Everything New
by JanaeSpecter14
Summary: Thirty months before the attack on the White House and President Asher, his family is moving in for the first time. But Mike Banning also met April Asher for the first time. That was the day everything changed and everything was new. Mike/OC story.
1. Moving In

**_January 20th_**

April Asher looked in the rearview mirror of her car, taking a moment to just look at herself. This was the start of everything new. She was going from the daughter of the Governor of Pennsylvania to the daughter of the President of the United States. How the hell was that transition supposed to go?

She put off going to college immediately after graduating high school (much to her father's protests) to be there with her family during the campaigning. Now that her father had won, they were moving into the White House and she was starting at Georgetown in the summer semester, missing the start of the spring semester while moving. With all the craziness that was going to surround her family, she decided the best thing for her to do was to stay at home while attending classes. Plus, why would she skip out on living at the White House?

They reached the gate seeing hundreds of people waiting outside, cheering for them as they pulled into their new house for the first time. There were tons of secret service agents around their cars, pointing for where they had to park. April parked behind her father before unbuckling her seatbelt, finding herself sitting there for a moment. This was it, the start of everything new in her life.

With a deep sigh, she got out of her car, greeted by more applause. She was still freezing from the inauguration speech earlier that morning so she had settled on changing from her dress to a cozy Patagonia, leggings and Ugg boots. Her mother begged for her not to, knowing something like this was going to happen when they arrived, but this was April they were talking about. If you told her not to, she just wanted to do it more.

They waved to the people for a few moments before stepping into the house for the first time. April took it all in, wanting to explore the entire place already. She wanted to take Conner and find all the hidden rooms the most. Actually, she wanted to call the Lincoln Bedroom as _her_ bedroom the most.

She looked to Conner, both of them sharing an excited smile before looking back to the house. "I call the Lincoln Bedroom!" She yelled before darting towards the front door, ready to move all of her stuff into it before anyone could.

Her father was already prepared for this, though. He stuck his arm out, blocking her from running out of the house. "No one gets the Lincoln Bedroom." He spoke in a tired voice, knowing this was going to be the argument of the day for his children.

"Oh, come on." April complained as Conner began complaining over her.

"She always gets the bigger room!" Conner spoke with a bit of a stomp of the foot.

"I'm a history major. I'll be the only one who will actually appreciate it!"

"No one gets the Lincoln Bedroom," a voice came from behind the two, causing them to both turn around at where it had come from. "And that's final."

April looked this guy up and down, pinpointing exactly what he was and why he was saying this. Secret Service. The soon to be bane of her existence. This particular secret service agent had dark brown hair clashing with the extremely light brown hair she inherited from her father. They actually looked like the exact opposite. He was tall, she was short. He was toned and muscular, she got winded after climbing up half a flight of stairs. He had a foreign accent while hers was purely American. In fact, the only thing that matched about the two was their bright crystal eyes.

"And who would you be?" April asked in an almost accusing voice, making her father cringe. She was too much like her mother. Blunt.

"Mike Banning." He spoke without a beat, not impressed with her even a little bit. "In charge of you."

She scoffed before looking him up and down again. He was not like the other secret service men she had met. He actually had emotions. If you could call his cockiness an emotion. "No one's in charge of me." She whispered a little bit.

"Yeah, okay." He spoke, giving her a bit of an eye roll before moving past her to go straight to her father, making his acquaintance.

April's mouth dropped a little bit, a tiny smile growing from that. No one talked to her like that. It was actually kind of refreshing. She wasn't anyone special in his eyes. She was just his job. His way of making money. That's how she wanted to keep it. Maybe she did like secret service agents. Well, she liked Mike as a secret service agent.

"Mr. President," Mike spoke while moving to shake his hand. "My name is Mike Banning. I'm in charge of your family's security detail. It is _very_ nice to meet you sir."

"It's nice to meet you as well." Her father spoke while April moved to stand behind Mike, ready to have more communication with him. She wanted him to do it again. Treat her like she was nothing. "This is my wife, Margret." Margret leaned forward to shake his hand while sharing a small smile with her daughter, knowing what she was doing. "My son Conner." Conner moved forward, excited about just moving into the White House, he didn't catch what was going on with his big sister. "And," Ben looked to his oldest, giving a bit of a sigh at her earlier behavior. "You've already met my daughter, April."

Mike turned around to look at her again, April catching her father giving her a stern look to be nice to this guy, but then again, this was April. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Banning." April spoke as she leaned forward to shake his hand.

Mike watched her as he grabbed her hand to shake, knowing already that this girl was going to be the reason he would get grey hairs. He had to admit though, he liked it just as much as April did. He loved a good challenge. And she was definitely going to be a challenge. "Nice to meet you, April." His tone was condescending, doing his best to mimic her tone, making her smile spread just a little more.

They were both dicks and they were going to love being dicks to each other. "Let me show your family around, President Asher." Mike spoke, lingering with his gaze on April before turning to look at the President once he said his name.

"Sure." Ben spoke with a shrug, pushing Conner forward as he held an excited face. Once Ben reached Mike, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "And it's Ben, Mike."

Mike nodded respectfully letting the group walk ahead of him, but April just continued to stand there and look at him. "You know," he spoke, looking her up and down again. She turned her head at that. This had to do with his training. Why else would he do it? "We have to come up with custom nicknames for the President's family." He chuckled a little bit while shaking his head at her. He had never met a daughter of the president like this before. They were usually so respectable and good. She was something else. She was trouble. "Why don't we call you 'Trouble'?"

She sighed with a shrug before moving to follow the rest of the family. "If the shoe fits."

Mike watched her walk off, shaking his head at her. Yeah, this was going to be a fun one.

* * *

April had retreated to her new room after all of the stuff was unloaded from her car. It was a lot to take in. A new room, people doing the unloading and unpacking for her. She was even told she could practically say goodbye to driving a car. The secret service was there to eliminate any kind of threat from the outside world. Driving was apparently one of them.

Dinner was going to be up shortly as well. She could say goodbye to Mom's home cooked meals too. Her mother wasn't going to have time to do all of that now that she was the First Lady. She had new responsibilities now. One's she didn't have to worry about when she was the Governor's wife. April honestly thought that being the President's daughter was going to be a lot more fun, but it was the first day and she had a knot in her stomach.

She was sprawled out on her bed, just staring up at her pink ceiling. She really did hate that they gave her the pink room. Blue was her favorite color and she was mad Conner got it, but mostly that the secret service played into gender roles.

There was a knock on her door, but she didn't have the energy to get up and answer it. After a while, the door opened and Mike poked his head in. "Dinner's ready." He reported. "Your mom wanted me to get you."

"I'm not hungry." She spoke, her eyes still fixed on the ceiling, her voice as bland as Mike had ever heard it. Sure, he only knew her for a few hours, but he already knew her so well.

"Come on." He spoke in a complaining way. "This is my first order from the First Lady, I really don't want to not do it."

She rolled her eyes at how many negatives he used in that sentence. "Sucks to be you."

Mike decided that if he was going to deal with someone like this for at least four years, he had to lay down the law now while walking into her room all the way. That made her sit up. "What are you doing?" She asked, but he just kept walking toward her. "Mike?" She questioned again. That's when he picked her up by her waist, throwing her over his shoulders. "What the hell?!" She screamed at him. "Put me down!"

"Nope." He spoke immediately while carrying her out into the hall.

"Dad!" She called instinctively. He was always the one she called out for when she was in trouble.

Mike finally sighed, knowing he had to put her down so the President and First Lady wouldn't think that he literally dragged her to dinner. When he put her down, she looked to him with wild eyes. "I think you forget that I could get you fired." She spoke with a half laugh even if she was completely serious.

"You wouldn't do that." He spoke while shaking his head with a smile growing on his face.

April began to smile. This was going to be the best part of living here for her. Her and Mike would be able to do this all day every day, and she needed a new person to have a sass-off with. "And why wouldn't I?"

He looked around at the place. "Because you need someone here who can show you all of the hiding places."

April's face got serious. That was the most exciting thing to hear about moving here. "Really?" She asked excitedly.

He moved closer to her, wanting to keep her anticipation levels up. "Only if you tell me what's really going on."

She took a deep sigh, looking right to Mike. She didn't want to tell anyone what was going on with her in fear that it might somehow get to her dad that she wasn't totally happy here, but she trusted Mike. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was just something about him that made her trust him over any of the secret service agents around. He was just…different.

While studying Mike, she shrugged. "It's just not all I thought it was cracked up to be."

He gave her a slight smile, understanding what she was going through. He had seen it before. "You don't think everyone else is going through the same feeling right now?"

April looked up at him, blinking a couple of times, not thinking about it that way. "Really?"

He laughed at the way she asked. It was like she was ashamed of her own feelings. He would knock that out of her real quick. "Yeah, you should have seen your dad earlier. He was on the verge of a panic attack." She chuckled a little bit at the thought of her dad actually scared of something. "He told me the only thing keeping him sane right now is his family."

She looked up at him, meeting that gaze. Those crystal blue eyes met again and all April could think to do was stare into them. "I can be strong for my dad." She told him with a nod.

Mike smiled as he continued to look at her, finding himself doing the same thing April was doing. Looking into her eyes. "I know you can."

April began chuckling, thinking of something she had been dying to tell Mike at the right time. "I think I picked out a good nickname for me."

He smiled at her, ready to hear what she had picked out. He loved it when they picked out their own nicknames. "I'm all ears."

"Showers." She spoke as a simple shrug which made his eyebrows scrunch. He didn't find the connection at all. April bit her lip, looking around before deciding to confide with him about this. "Promise you won't tell me dad?" He just looked at her, not totally sure if he was going to keep that promise causing her to roll her eyes. "Whatever, I'm gonna show you anyway." She pulled her Patagonia to the left side, showing a bare shoulder with a storm cloud tattooed on her body near her collar bone. "I was...inebriated." Mike began laughing, hardly believing she did this. "And it's like April Showers."

Mike continued to laugh as he leaned forward to touch the tattoo. "Oh, that's definitely gonna be your code name now." He looked back to her as she covered it back up, a thinking look on his face. "Thunder Showers." He spoke with a nod. "So it still references your troublesome attitude."

"Oh." She spoke with a joking smile as his just grew bigger while she began walking past him. "You're not going to let that one go, are you?"

Mike watched her as she walked off, smiling. He had never connected with one of the family members so fast before. She was a great girl and he was going to do everything he could to keep her safe. "No I am not."

When April finally got into the dining room, her mother gave her a bright smile. "We were wondering when you were going to join us."

She gave her a bit of an eye roll before leaning in for her mother to give her a kiss on the cheek. Mike smiled at the family as soon as April went to sit down, the four of them just falling into this natural conversation as they began serving themselves with the food on the table. Their conversation was filled with laughs and constant joking. They really were happy all together. That was something he knew they didn't have to pretend because it was like they were the only ones in the room. The secret service didn't bother them one bit.

As Mike looked back and forth at them, he knew, he was going to get really attached to this family.

 _ **So with the new movie coming out soon, I thought now would be a good time to put out this idea that has been swimming in my head for a while. I know there's a couple of stories with Ben's daughter having a relationship with Mike so I'm trying to make this story as original and unique as possible so we'll have a couple in the mix. I will try to update as best as I can and will be focusing a lot on April in the first chapters. It will probably take me a while to actually get to the events in the movie considering I'm going to be setting up a base for April and Mike since this will eventually become a Mike/OC story. I hope you all like it and remember to review!**_


	2. The Great Prank War of 2011

_**February**_

Mike stood in the Oval Office while Ben was scribbling down things on files he was sent to look over. He was assigned to specifically be with the President all day, but Mike didn't mind. He would prefer to spend some more time with April and Conner, especially with what was happening between the three of them.

Suddenly the door opened, April and Conner rushed in, thinking no one else was in there, alerting both Mike and Ben. Once they saw Mike, they immediately stopped what they were doing, getting smiles on their faces. "What are you two doing?" Ben asked, looking at each of his children individually.

Conner looked to April, that devilish look on his face, matching hers. Mike just looked back at forth at the two, smiling and shaking his head. "Nothing." Conner finally spoke before the two began giggling, making their way out of the room.

Mike shook his head at the two, following them to the door. "Cheaters." He spoke, causing them to giggle until they made it out of the room.

April stuck her head back into the room while she and Conner were already outside. "You have a home field advantage."

He looked to her, April smiling bright right back at him. He then pulled out his watch, measuring how much longer he would be with Ben before going out there, continuing what he had started with the kids. "You've got a ten minute head start."

April didn't waste any more time, hurrying out of the room and running down the hallway with her brother. Mike could hear the giggles outside the door making him shake his head. It had only been a few weeks since they had moved in, but Mike was already so attached to these kids. When he was put on their detail, all they did was play. And April, she was fun to be around.

"I see they're taking a liking to you." Ben spoke through a laugh, still looking down at those papers.

"Yes sir." Mike spoke with a nod before turning back to him.

"Especially April." Ben spoke, looking up and Mike quickly before looking back down at his papers. He wanted to see his reaction.

"Yeah." Mike spoke with a shrug. "She's a good kid."

Ben looked up at him, wondering if there was _any_ tick in his remark. He knew his daughter better than anyone, and he knew when she liked someone before she even did. And she definitely liked Mike. This was starting to become a widely discussed topic between Ben and Margret. Ben couldn't tell if Mike had a reaction or not since he hardly showed any emotions. He was hoping there was something there. Sure, there was an age gap, but he had never seen April look at someone the way she looked at Mike. If anything were to happen between the two, he would most definitely support it.

Ben smiled again, looking at Mike, getting an idea. "Why don't you go ahead and win that prank war you three have got going on?"

Mike looked to Ben, shaking his head, becoming serious again. "No sir, this is my station right now."

"Don't be ridiculous." Ben spoke, looking past him to the shut door. "Hey, Forbes!"

Agent Forbes immediately walked in after that, ready to do whatever the President asked. "Yes, sir?"

"Take over for Mike here." Ben spoke with the wave of the pen at Mike. Mike just looked at the President incredulously, surprised that he would actually do that.

Forbes looked over at Mike, giving him a bit of a smile, knowing exactly what the President was doing. "Yes, sir." Mike's attraction to April was also one of the most talked about subject with the secret service agents.

Mike looked back and forth between the two, both of them just having huge smiles on their faces. "Whatever." Mike finally spoke while moving to walk out of the room as Ben and Forbes just continued to laugh at what they had caused. When Mike got out of the Oval Office, he looked down the hallway, smiling slightly at what they were doing for him before hurrying off down where he _knew_ April and Conner would be.

He went down the hallway leading to the Lincoln Bedroom, going inside and opening up the secret passage way that laid inside the walls. Once he got in, he realized how quiet it was. Almost too quiet. That's when he was doused with water. He stood there for a moment, taking in what had happened to him. "Hey, stiff!"

He immediately looked up, seeing April and Conner tucked into the upper part of the walls, looking down on him. "Oh," he spoke, looking back between the two, Conner still laughing at April catching his attention. "You're both dead."

"But your job is to protect us." Conner laughed out.

April turned to look at him, a fake thought obviously passing through her head. "Good point, little brother." She turned back to look at the fuming Mike. "What do you think, buddy?"

"Okay," he spoke, pointing at April. "You're dying first."

She laughed while reaching behind her, throwing him a dry set of clothes. "We weren't going to totally screw you out of your job."

Conner was laughing, causing April to turn to him with an excited smile. "See you soon, Mike." He called before the two disappeared back into the walls, hurrying so Mike wouldn't try to kill them.

Mike looked up at where they had retreated, a smile still on his face before shaking his head from how wet his hair got. His wheels were already turning on how to get back at them, and most likely, they weren't going to like it.

* * *

April woke up that morning in her nice, warm bed with a glint of sunlight peeking through the windows. It was taking a lot of getting used to waking up in the White House, but it was slowly starting to become something normal to her.

She sat up in her bed, stretching out, getting ready to get out of bed and fill her already growling tummy. The second she put her foot on the floor, though, she could feel vegetable oil on her bare feet. That's when she looked around, noticing it was covering every inch of her wood floor. As she looked around, she could only think of one culprit. "Mike!" She yelled out.

That's when Forbes came rushing in at the sound of her yelling, trying to make sure everything was okay, but once he saw the oil in her room, he began laughing. "Nice one, Mikey." He whispered as he inspected the floor. It didn't look like he had missed one spot.

"Go get something I can walk on to get out of here." She demanded.

With that, he turned around, hurrying out of the room to find something, causing her to look around at her room again. She shrugged at the thought of Mike's amount of planning and determination to pull this one off. "It _was_ a nice one."

* * *

When April had finally gotten down to the kitchen and the maids were working on cleaning up her room, Mike couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her. "How are you doing this morning, April?" He asked in an overly polite voice, getting her to do a dry laugh back at him.

Conner was also giggling, letting her know that her revenge had to work for them both. She quickly grabbed a mug filled with hot water and a tea bag, dunking it in the water, thinking about how she was going to get back at them.

* * *

When Conner woke up that morning, he felt something tickling his face. At first, he just jerked his head back, thinking it was just a piece of hair in his way. But it continued. He rolled over, hoping it had to deal with the way he was lying down, but it just kept tickling his nose. When he finally put his hand to his face to stop it, he felt a squash. His eyes immediately opened after that, hearing his bedroom door open and close. He sighed, knowing what was on his face was shaving cream and knowing this was one of his big sister's pranks.

* * *

Both Mike and Conner walked up to April as she sat in the parlor, reading a book. They each looked to each other, knowing this was going to be a tough conversation. "Hello, April." Mike spoke to start it off.

She glanced up from the book, looking at each of them before looking right back down at the book. "Mike," She acknowledged. "Traitor-I-used-to-call-my-brother," Conner rolled his eyes at how she acknowledged him before looking back to her. "How can I assist you?"

Mike nudged Conner, knowing he had to be the one who brought peace about all of this. "April, we're here to call a truce."

Her eyes drifted to her brother, quickly marking her place in the book before shutting it with one hand. "How interesting."

"So," Mike spoke, while looking back and forth at the two children. "What do you think?"

"What would this truce include?" She asked, her eyes drifting to Mike this time.

He was giving her that pleading face, wanting her to take this truce as much as Conner did. "It would mean a stop to the prank war."

She looked back and forth at each of them, thinking of what to tell them. She stood up, giving herself some time to think as she put the book back on its shelf. "I think that with all that has been revealed today, I will hold out on the truce."

"Why?" Conner asked as Mike shut his eyes, groaning out her name.

She shrugged as she turned to look back to them. "Because I'm bored and you both pissed me off."

Mike looked her up and down, thinking of how scary she looked in that moment. "So what would you do if you were the President?" He was starting to get really happy about the fact that her father had one and not her. She would probably plunge the country into war over this.

"So," She spoke, moving close to them, taking time looking back and forth. "I would keep your guard up, boys."

Conner gulped, terrified of his sister in that moment, but Mike was going to play it cool. He wasn't going to let her know that he was scared of her for as long as she stood in front of him. "My guard is always up."

She smiled to Mike, moving even closer to him, knowing he was the one who started all of this. "We'll see." She whispered to him almost seductively. Mike just stared at her, not sure what to think until she lunged at him, making both Conner and Mike flinch back.

She laughed as she made her way out of the parlor, leaving the two to think about what had just happened and what kind of threats were going to stand in their way when Mike turned to Conner. He punched him in the arm, slightly, making Conner grab his now aching arm. "Ow!" He yelled at him, giving him an annoyed look.

Mike just pointed at him. "That's for not telling me your sister is crazy."

"She's crazy." Conner spoke in a bland tone, making Mike mock him, causing Conner to roll his eyes and begin to walk off.

Mike looked back to where she was standing in front of him just a second ago, letting a shiver run down his spine. She was actually really scary when she wanted to be. That's what scared Mike the most about her. She didn't even need secret service around her, she could take care of herself. He was just scared for how she was going to take care of herself by getting revenge on him and Conner.

* * *

Mike spent the rest of that day walking around the White House with much precautions. Not just for himself, but for his entire staff. April had become relentless with this pranking war. He knew she was just bored and needed something to do, but wow, she was taking this really far. Mike looked around the corner, on high "April watch". Things around the place had gotten quiet. Too quiet. "This girl needs to start school already." He spoke while shaking his head at the fact that _this_ is what she had chosen to do with her free time.

That's when he saw April come out of her room, walking down the hallway so casually like nothing had ever happened. Mike watched her, expecting something, but she just kept walking. She smiled once she noticed him. "Hey, Mike."

Once she walked past him, it drove him crazy, he spun around quick, finding it hard to believe that was it. "Are you kidding me right now?" He spoke loud, making her stop and turn around.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she moved back to him, confused with what he was bringing up. "What are you talking about?"

He blinked a couple times at her. Did she forget everything she promised would happen to him a few hours ago? "You're kidding, right?"

She shook her head at him like she had no idea what he was talking about. "I'm not kidding, I don't know what you're talking about."

Mike opened his mouth, about to protest with her when he realized what she was doing. "You're trying to do psychological warfare now. Trying to get inside my head, that's all."

She sighed before shaking her head at him. "Yeah, sure, that's what I'm trying to do, so, can I go now I have to do some stuff."

Mike laughed as he shook his head at her. "I'm sure you do."

She sighed again, adding an eye roll this time. "Bye, Mike."

He just continued to watch her as she continued her walk down the hallway. "She's going to kill me." He whispered. When he turned around, though, he saw all the artwork from the wall was gone, nowhere in sight. He looked back to where she had walked off, seeing no sight of her or the art. "APRIL!"

April got a big smile, letting out a little laugh, picking up her pace slightly at the sound of her newest prank working perfectly.

* * *

They were all at the breakfast table the next morning and when April reached for the syrup, Conner jumped, thinking back on her threat. She gave him an annoyed look at his fear before throwing some syrup on her pancakes. Maggie was looking back and forth at the two with a confused face. "What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing." April answered while Conner said, "Everything."

She turned to look at Conner, giving him a death stare at the thought of how her mother would act if she found out about how far their prank war had gotten. "What is going on?" Maggie asked in a more forceful voice, hoping to get the truth out of that one. Neither of them said anything, just looking down at their breakfast in silence. "Is it this prank war?" She finally concluded.

They both looked up, April shaking her head as Conner nodded. "Look," she spoke, her voice even more forceful than before. "You two need to stop this thing before it gets out of hand." April and Conner looked to each other, knowing she was right, but neither of them were going to back down first and they both knew Mike wouldn't.

After breakfast, Conner met Mike in the walls, the both of them looking over their prank plan they had developed last night. Mike let out a loud yawn, causing Conner to look to him with a confused face. He was never tired. "Sorry." He spoke while shaking his head, thinking back on why he was so tried. "I was up all night trying to find those paintings your sister took. She's an expert hider."

"Okay," Conner spoke as he looked back to plan, not really caring about what Mike had to say in that moment. This was all about getting April back from everything she did to them. "We're going to infiltrate her when she's her most vulnerable."

"Which is?" Mike asked.

"When she's putting her makeup on in the morning." His head went from side to side, seeing how that was her most vulnerable before looking back to Conner for the rest of the plan. "If we mess up her face, it will end it all."

"Or she'll go on an even bigger rampage." Mike spoke in a kind of monotone, thinking of the worst case scenario here.

"Don't hate the plan." Conner told him immediately, looking him right in the eye.

"I'm not." He spoke as he moved his hand to the drawn out plan to point at something. "I just think – "

He was immediately cut off by Conner slapping his hand away from it. "Don't touch the plan." All Mike could do was look at the kid. Damn, they were both brave as hell.

* * *

The morning of the prank that would end it all was here, and there April was putting on her makeup in the tall mirror. She was just sitting in front of it on the carpet, studying her face with her entire arsenal of eyeliners, lipsticks and eyeshadows surrounded her. She leaned in close, putting all of her concentration on making her eyeliner as straight as possible when there was a loud knock on her door. "April!" Conner called from outside her door.

She jumped slightly, and once she made sure the jump hadn't messed up her liner, she looked to the door with an annoyed stare at what it could have caused. "What?!"

"Mom wants you in the kitchen!" He called.

She sighed, looking to the door for a moment before deciding to go back to her eyeliner. The pencil was close to her face when there was another loud knock on her door, making her jump again. "Conner!" She called as she stood up from where she was, hurrying to the door. "I swear to god – "

She was cut off the second she opened the door because a pie was thrown in her face. She stood there for a moment in full shock. And then when the pan fell off of her face, she caught sight of Conner through the whipped cream. "I am," She spoke as slowly as possible. "Going to kill you!"

She chased after him, all the way into the kitchen where she found multiple pies around. April picked one up as soon as he turned around, throwing it, letting it hit his back, sending him to the ground. "Hey!" He yelled.

That's when Mike came out of what seemed like nowhere and threw another pie into April's face, holding her up by her back so she wouldn't fall over from the impact. Right when Mike pulled the pie pan off of her face, she look at all the pies surrounding the kitchen, picking up the closest one, about to throw it in Mike's face, but they were all stopped when they heard Maggie yell, "What is going on in here?!"

Fear froze all of their bodies as their blood ran cold. All they could do was stand there because they each knew they were going to get in so much trouble. "April," Maggie spoke like it was obvious. "If you're going to _really_ throw it in his face then you need to bring your right foot back and slam it in his face."

Conner and April began to laugh as they both looked to Mike, April following her mother's instructions. April looked to Mike, shrugging as he did. "Just hurry up and get it over with." He spoke, cringing slightly, waiting for it.

"You know what," April spoke as she brought the pie down, Mike and Conner both looking to her shocked, this was honestly the last thing they expected. "I'm a mature lady and I don't need to throw this pie in your face to get even with you."

"Really?" He asked.

Without missing a beat, she threw the pie in his face as forcefully as she could, letting the pan fall to the ground itself. She brushed off her hands as Maggie and Conner both laughed at what had just happened. "No." She spoke, looking down to look right into his face as he tried to get whipped cream out of his eyes. "Not really."

"You're dead." Mike spoke.

"Oh," April spoke, getting closer to him. "What was that? I couldn't hear you through all the whipped cream."

That's when another pie entered her face by her mother. They all stood there for a moment, realizing what was about to happen. They were all going to have a full fledged food fight. Then, in the next second, pies were flying across the room, hitting every inch of the kitchen and every part of their bodies. April began slipping on the floor from all the whipped cream as Mike grabbed her by the waist, making her laugh while they both eased each other to the ground.

Through all the laughter and commotion, they couldn't even hear Ben walk into the room, barely missing a pie to the face from an off throw. "What the hell is going on in here?!"

They all stopped with the same fear on their faces as earlier. He wasn't going to be as soft as Maggie was about the situation, making each of them even more nervous than before. "Prank war." Conner spoke slowly as they all smiled back, hoping he would go easy on them.

* * *

He didn't go easy on them. They had to clean the entire kitchen spotless, but it was easier since there were four of them working together to get it done. By the time night had fallen, everyone was showered, all the whipped cream was finally out of everyone's hair.

Mike had decided on walking April to her room for the night, the two of them continuing to laugh at the events that unfolded the past few days. They were both glad they could actually talk again instead of being at war. April was wearing her fuzzy star robe with a tank top and pajama shorts underneath, still slightly wet from her shower earlier. It was rare that people got to see her like this, but she was so comfortable around Mike, it didn't even phase her.

"So, is the truce still up for grabs?" She asked, bumping into Mike softly as they walked.

He laughed with a nod. "Conner and I would love it if our kingdoms could be at peace again."

The two of them stopped in front of her bedroom door, just looking at each other for a moment, those smiles still on their faces. "You know, even if we spent hours cleaning up the kitchen because of all of this, I have to say the prank war was very fun."

"And you've learned all the hiding spots and learned how to clean an entire kitchen from floor to ceiling."

April laughed slightly before looking to her bedroom door. "I'm really tired."

"I bet you are from that swing you took on my face."

She nodded, impressed with herself, thinking of it all over again. It was probably the highlight of her week. "It was a really good swing."

Mike shook his head at her, finding himself looking into her eyes again. "Goodnight, April."

She nodded, putting her hand on his forearm, giving him a goodnight squeeze. "Goodnight, Mike."

With that, she went into her room while Mike spent the night patrolling the halls. And while he was patrolling the halls, he noticed that back up was the one painting he couldn't find. He couldn't help but wonder where the hell April had hidden it so well that even he couldn't find it.

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Thanks for being my first review and follower! I'm glad you like April and yes, bleh, pink. I hope you like this chapter. It showed a lot more of April's goofy side besides her sassy side we saw in the last chapter.**_

 _ **Everyone else, I hope you liked the chapter as well. And I want to apologize for the last chapter being so short. I was just trying to set up a basis for Mike and April. I made sure to make this one longer for you guys. Thank you guys so much for reading and clicking the "follow" button. Remember to review your thoughts with what you liked and what you want to see more of. Requests are always open for what you want to see! Have a great day!**_


	3. First Date

Leah sighed as she watched Mike get dressed. "This isn't fair, you know?"

He looked to her while straightening up his tie. "Am I supposed to change the fact that there is a fundraiser on Valentine's Day?"

"No." She spoke while getting up to hand him a pair of black socks. "But someone else could have done it."

He sat on the bed as he watched her put an earring in her ear. Since she wasn't having a night with Mike, she was going to have a night with the girls. "Yeah, well this is what puts food on our table and a roof over our heads."

"Yeah." She spoke coming back into the room from their closet. "I know."

That's when he got up, going straight for her. "Then stop complaining."

"Shut up." She mocked as he leaned in to kiss her.

After their lips parted, her arms went around his neck as his went around her waist. "After I get back from the party and you get back from girl's night, we should have our own celebration."

He moved to her neck, kissing and nibbling on it, causing her to let out a bubbly laugh before looking down at her watch. "You have to leave now if you're going to be your usual five minutes early."

"You're right." He grumbled while pulling away from her, giving her a quick kiss before heading out the door. "I love you." He called before walking out.

"I love you too." She called just as the door shut and she was left there to think about which earring she should be wearing tonight.

* * *

April smoothed out her dress in the mirror with an annoyed look on her face. "A fundraiser on Valentine's Day?" She groaned as she looked at her mother who was still lacing her dress up in the back. "What a great reminder that I am completely and utterly alone?"

Her Dad looked to her in the mirror while fixing Conner's tux. "You don't need a man to keep you happy."

She groaned again. She loved her dad a lot, but he had to bring this up every time she complained about a guy or lack of. "I got it, Dad. The first twelve times you've told me."

"Well," Maggie spoke as she moved a loose stand out of April's face. "He is right."

April turned to her mother, shaking her head. "You're supposed to be on my side." Maggie started laughing as Ben and Conner walked up to the ladies. Ben put his arm around Maggie's waist, making April shake her head more, still disappointed about her mother not being on her side. "When did this union happen?"

Maggie and Ben looked to each other, those fake thinking faces on. "Twenty-three years?" He questioned while looking to his wife.

She looked up, doing mental math. "Yeah, this year it will be twenty-three."

That's when they leaned forward and gave each other a loving kiss that Conner and April pretended a gag to. "Ugh, let's get out of here, Conner." She spoke as she pushed him forward.

Ben and Maggie pulled apart, still smiling at each other as she shrugged. "Works every time."

Right as April pulled open the door to get out, Mike was standing there, about to turn the doorknob. "Well," April sang out. "Hello, Michael."

He rolled his eyes at her while moving past her to get to the president. "Why is your name so short?" He complained, not finding anything to make her name sound longer than it really was.

April smiled to herself before turning around to see Mike begin to lead Ben and Maggie out the door, April and Conner falling in line behind their parents. Once they got out the door, Forbes was the caboose in the line, all of them making their way outside and into the cars.

Mike was in the limo with the family along with Forbes, the six of them making conversation the entire ride there. During that time, April leaned forward, finding herself right in Mike's ear. "You don't have anything better to do on Valentine's Day?"

He smirked as he turned to look at her. "You would be bored out of your mind if I wasn't coming to this thing with you."

April faked a sigh with a dramatic look out the window. "True."

He was looking all around, measuring potential threats always. He could be fully engaged in a conversation, but he also knew how to make an escape plan if needed to. It fascinated her. "What do see and hear that everyone else doesn't?"

He looked back to her, those eyes meeting each other again. That insane spark everyone but them noticed. "Possible threats."

The car slowed to a stop as soon as they got there, but Mike and April just wouldn't take their eyes off of each other. He leaned in close to her like she did to him, whispering, "We're here."

April gave him a bit of a smile as he opened up the doors, Ben and Maggie going out first and then April and Conner. Sure, it had only been a month since they had moved into the White House and her father had become president, but she knew, just like her mother, that Ben was the most important thing to them. And if it came down to it, they would save him over them in a blink of an eye. That's why he was always the first to get escorted out. April, she always made sure she was behind Conner for that reason. She would rather it be her than him any other day.

Inside, the ballroom was decorated with hearts, red and pink. April shuttered at the thought of her pink bedroom again. She really had to redecorate. Could you even redecorate the White House? Well, she was going to do it anyway.

As she looked around the room, she knew this was going to be one of the worst nights of her life. It was going to be a bunch of smiling politicians all in line to meet her (mostly scheduled by her father) and that, she was not thrilled for. She continued to look around while her father was shaking hands and smiling, looking for the one person she lost sight of through all of this. Then, at the corner of the room, she saw him. She looked back to her dad, planning out the perfect time to make a getaway, and she made it through without being spotted by anyone else.

When she made it by Mike's side, he didn't look at her, he just kept looking around the room, analyzing any sort of threat. "I need a drink." She told him.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Aren't you eighteen?"

She scoffed as he finally made eye contact with her. "Yeah, and I also have a tattoo of a storm cloud on my shoulder that no one knows about. I think we all know April has had a few drinks in her life."

Mike smiled a little bit while looking straight forward, thinking about the tattoo all over again. It was pretty lame. "Shouldn't you be meeting politicians, kissing babies, that sort of stuff?"

"Yeah," She spoke before picking up a glass of champagne off of one of the waiters trays. "Something like that."

Mike turned to her with a challenging face. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I won't tell if you won't." She spoke in that same almost seductive voice.

Right as she was about to take a drink of it, he pulled it out of her hands and set it on another waiter's tray. Her mouth dropped from shock and anger at what he had just done to her. "You'll thank me later when your mother and father don't _kill you_."

"April," she suddenly heard her father call.

She shut her eyes, knowing he was going to find her eventually. "Go." Mike whispered as he pushed her toward her father. "Meet politicians, kiss babies, that sort of thing."

She turned back to him, giving him a threatening stare despite that smirk on her face as Mike returned a cocky smile. When April had turned around, she was shocked this was the first politician she was meeting, and it was not what she expected. He was…cute. "April, I would like you to meet William Guthrie, the current youngest member of the House of Representatives."

"Wow," she exhaled quickly while immediately sticking her hand out to shake his. "Hi."

He chuckled slightly, shaking her hand while Mike gave them both a weird glance. April was acting weird. Really weird. She was giddy. Playing with her hair. Laughing too loud. That's when it all hit him. She had a crush on this guy. Mike's mouth dropped, a smile on his face as he watched closer, folding his arms in almost disbelief, never seeing this side of her before.

"I'm April Asher." She introduced. That's when she shut her eyes, shaking her head. "But you already knew that." That's when it sounded off to April, causing her to open her eyes again. "Not like you _should_ know that." She began to laugh, her hand still gripping his in that handshake that seemed to start so long ago. "I'm not one of those girls. I'm just saying that because my father introduced us so he must have already talked to you about me." That sounded even more wrong. "Not like he had to or anything. I didn't ask him to. I – "

"Oh my god." Mike whispered out, taking his all not to laugh at how much of a fool she was making of herself.

That's when she realized she was still shaking his hand. She looked into his eyes, noticing how scared he looked from all the talking she was doing. "Oh my god." She muttered before letting go of his hand and turning away, retreating back to Mike who was laughing at her. She gave him an annoyed look, but his laughing just continued.

He grabbed a glass of champagne from the waiter, handing it to her. "Okay, I think you deserve this." She downed it as fast as possible, putting the empty glass on another tray of one of the waiters walking by. "I think you should have just stopped at 'I'm April Asher'."

She gave him a fake laugh, making Mike laugh even more. "Ugh, I sounded like a complete idiot." She spoke before throwing her face in her hands.

"He could take it as cute." Mike spoke with a shrug. "Because it kind of was."

April turned back to him with an eye roll. "Yeah, the guys who find that cute are guys who love to fuck dumb bimbos like a monkey."

"Well, I must be one of those." They both turned at the sudden interruption of their conversation, noticing William was right there, his eyes on April. "Because I thought you were damn cute back there." He shook his head, his eyes studying her entire body. "Definitely not a dumb bimbo, more like a smart, awkward hot girl."

Mike and April both turned to look back at each other, Mike giving her a knowing stare at the fact that he was right. "So," William spoke again, putting a hand out for her to grab. "Would you like to dance?"

April just stood there, just kind of stuck there. "She would love to." Mike answered for her causing her to give him a dirty look as he pushed her forward. He just gave her an impressed face as William led her to the dance floor at the fact that he was into her and he wasn't bad looking.

Once they had gotten into a dancing position, William looked into April's eyes, that dark brown clashing with that bright blue. "Are you always that awkward?" He asked as a joke, making her laugh instantly.

She looked back up at him, finding herself a lot calmer than she was a minute ago. "Only when I see a very hot, very impressive guy for the first time."

He shook his head while looking down, obviously embarrassed by what she had said about him. "Well, I am twenty-five and a member of the House of Representatives."

"Don't brag." She accused in a mocking tone. He did a light chuckle to that, obviously not finding it that funny. Mike would have found it funny, she thought to herself.

Conner came up to Mike as April and William kept talking during their dance. Mike's eyes were trained on what was happening between the two. He was inspecting every bit of movement, keeping mental notes on what to warn April about this guy, but so far, he found nothing wrong with him just by his look. "What are you doing?" Conner asked, finally taking Mike out of watching the two.

"What?" He asked quick, looking to Conner, but then finally processed what he had said earlier. "I'm just watching April." He eventually turned to look back at the two, but Conner just continued to stand there, studying him.

"Why are you watching her?" He asked, glancing quick at April before looking back to Mike, the confusion still on his face.

"You know." Mike spoke with a shrug, not really coming up with a good answer, eyes still locked on what was going on with April. She was laughing at something William was saying, making Mike very, very nervous.

"What?" Conner asked, completely confused with what he was saying.

"What?" Mike spoke, looking back to him, not remembering at all what they were talking about.

That's when Conner looked back to April, noticing she was pulling William away and off the dance floor. "Do you have a crush on April?" Conner finally asked with a knowing smile while turning back to look to Mike.

"What?" Mike asked with a bit of a laugh, but when he looked back to the dance floor and he couldn't find her, he looked slightly panicked. He didn't know where she was or what she was doing in that moment. "It's my job to make sure she's safe." Mike explained quickly, still looking all around for her. "That's what I'm doing."

Conner just continued to look at Mike. It was bullshit. He knew it as much as Mike did, but he was going to let him have it. Especially with how shaken up he was being over April. "I'm gonna go get dessert." Conner said before walking off with a smile on his face at what was still happening.

"Yeah, you do that." Mike spoke, finally catching sight of April and keeping his eyes on her.

That was about the time Maggie had noticed the look on Mike's face when she and Ben were dancing. "Babe," she spoke as she excitedly hit his shoulder. "Look."

Ben looked out to see Mike's concerned, focused face on April while she was laughing and talking with William at the bar. "Oh." Ben spoke in a slightly excited voice before looking back to Maggie. "This just got interesting." She nodded to him excitedly before looking back to them.

* * *

April moved the sponge around her face one last time before looking at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a light blue tank top dress with a white cardigan. She was looking around her room like a crazy woman, trying to get everything she needed while her mother just sat on her bed. "April," Maggie spoke in a soothing voice. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down?" She asked her while pacing around her room. "This guy is amazing and successful and I'm just some loser who he's probably using to get closer to Dad and…" she finally just threw herself down on the bed, becoming just a big ball of anxiety. "Ugh!"

Her mother began to pet her hair, wishing she could let her know how amazing she was. But this was April. She would never look at herself like that. She was just like her father in that sense. "Honey," her mom spoke. "You can't let that thought stop you from making connections with people."

April rolled over, her head now on her mother's lap, looking up at her. "How do you do it?" She asked in almost wonderment. "How have you stayed this sane through it all?"

Maggie continued to run her fingers through her daughter's hair, just transfixed on her. "I have you and your brother to think about. That's how."

April smiled as Maggie leaned down to give her daughter a kiss on the forehead before making her stand up. "Come on," she said enthusiastically while gripping onto her hands. "Let's pick out your shoes."

* * *

Mike stood with the President in the Oval Office, knowing that the kid who was talking out April was going to be in here soon to talk to Ben about how they were spending the night. Mike most definitely wanted to be there for that. And he was going on the date whether she liked it or not.

That's when William stepped in. He obviously looked nervous, but walked right up to Ben and Mike. "Nice to see you, Mr. President." He spoke with a polite nod.

"Nice to see you too, William." He greeted.

William looked over to see Mike, knowing automatically that he was secret service and he was going to be a hard one to get by. "Nice to meet you." He spoke with an extended hand. "William Guthrie."

Mike looked him over for a second before sticking his hand out to shake his. "Mike Banning." He didn't want to lie, so he wasn't going to say it was nice to meet him which was acceptable because he was secret service and they didn't necessarily have to show emotions.

"So," Ben spoke, putting on his "President" voice. "What do you two have planned tonight?"

"Dinner." William spoke with a nod, not wanting to sound too eager, but excited enough to be taking his daughter out on a date. "And then a movie."

Mike rolled his eyes slightly at how cliché this date was. "Sounds nice." Ben spoke while clapping a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just going to warn you that there's going to be a few members of secret service tailing you on this date. So, don't try anything stupid."

"I would never, sir." He spoke in almost a frightened voice.

Mike rolled his eyes again while looking to William. He was just too polite. Something was up with him. He just couldn't put his finger on it. "Then you two have a good night."

Mike looked over to Ben like he was insane. That was it? No big speech about how he would kill him if he hurt her? Well if Ben wasn't going to do it, Mike was. Mike wanted William to be scared of him because if he hurt April in any way shape or form, he was going to literally kill him.

He was about to pull William aside when April walked in with an excited face. All Mike could do was look at her. She was slowly dying her hair to a darker color, making those eyes stand out even more than before. And that dress, really brought out those eyes. She and William talked for a little bit before April looked to her father and Mike. "I'll be home by twelve."

"Not any later." Ben spoke while pointing to her before she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Twelve?" Mike whispered to himself.

Together, they both walked out of the Oval Office, leaving Mike to just continue to stand there dumbfounded. "Sir," Mike began while turning around to look at him. "Are you – "

"Mike," Ben spoke in a tired voice, knowing exactly what he was going to ask. "I know what I'm doing, especially with April." He laughed at how stressed out he looked. "You'll understand when you have your own kids."

Mike chuckled a little bit at the thought before looking back to the door. He hated this. He hated all of this. "I better get down – "

"You're not assigned to be with April tonight."

That took Mike completely off guard. He had to be with her. Especially tonight. "But sir – "

"Banning," Ben spoke in the calmest tone he could at this point with Mike. "Go home. Go to your wife. Everything will be all back to normal in the morning."

"If I can sir," Mike began, making Ben sigh out of almost annoyance. "I would like to stay for just a bit longer." Ben let out another long sigh. "Just until April comes back. It would make me feel more at ease."

Ben just stared at him for a moment. He should call himself lucky for having someone he cared that much about his family, but like his wife said, he was doing this because he loved April. "Fine." Ben breathed out. "But I'm going to bed."

Mike laughed while giving him a nod, knowing it was understandable. "Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight." He spoke before walking out of the office. The second he did, though, he thought of something. He poked his head back in, giving Mike a serious look. "Let me know what time she gets home."

Mike just chuckled, giving him another nod. "Will do, sir."

* * *

April walked through the halls of her house, thinking back on the night, her lips still tingling from that goodnight kiss. Her shoes were in her hand, knowing her feet were going to be aching in the morning from all that dancing they did. She really didn't care, though. It was an amazing date.

She kept thinking on it until she realized that Mike was lounged on a chair in front of her bedroom door. She looked at him for a moment, noticing his eyes were moving. He was in REM. That's how deep of a sleep he was in. She suddenly went forward to kick his foot, knowing if she was going to get into her bedroom and sleep, she had to wake him up. "Mike!" She whisper yelled to him.

He jumped up, going straight to his gun and she put her hands up in a mock defense. "Take it easy now ex special ops."

"April?" He spoke in a tired voice while stretching out.

"Yeah." She spoke obviously. "I kind of live here."

He then looked to his watch, seeing that the time was 11:59 before looking back up to April. "You're cutting it a little close."

"I said by twelve." She spoke with a shrug. "I'm gonna spend as much time as I can out."

Mike laughed as he looked up at her. "So, how was it?"

That smile grew on her face again, shrugging at the thought of it, not totally sure she wanted to share this information with Mike. "It was good for a first date."

"With that blush on your face, you're gonna tell me the date was just good?"

She then gave him an annoyed look. "You're not even supposed to be working tonight. What are you doing here?"

He looked to her with a tired face, giving her a bit of a smile. "I stayed here," he spoke as he got up. "To make sure you got home okay."

"Aw," she spoke in a fake voice, throwing her hand on his arm. "How sweet."

"Yeah, well, I'm leaving now." He quickly moved out of her slight embrace like he didn't even want to feel, making her roll her eyes.

"Good." April spoke, turning around to look at him. "Go home to your wife and get some sleep for your shift tomorrow."

He rolled his eyes at her with a smile before turning down the hallway, waving to her before she opened the door to her room. "Night, April!"

She smiled as she watched him continue to walk down the hall, thinking about him making it home okay like he thought of her making it home okay all night. "Goodnight, Mike." She whispered almost just to herself.

She finally opened the door to her room, quickly getting herself ready for bed. When she finally laid herself down, she remembered how great her date was. The only thing she could think of, though was the fact that Mike stayed there until she got home. And that's what she fell asleep thinking of. Mike.

 ** _Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Hehehe glad you liked it and the prank war. April is a tricky one, that's for sure :)_**

 ** _FizzWizz2011: I will *fakes solute*_**

 ** _MicoleR85: So glad you like it! Thanks so much for reading, love!_**

 ** _So, I went to go see London Has Fallen today and it was so good! You all have to go see it! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and remember to review what you like about the story and what you want to see happen with April and Mike! Until next time!_**


	4. Happy Birthday, April!

_**March 31**_ _ **st**_

William was on the couch with April's legs sprawled out on him as his thumb traced her bare thigh from the shorts she was wearing. She peeked behind her crossword puzzle, looking right to William. "What's the name of the manager for the Cardinals?"

His eyes drifted up, thinking for a moment before looking back to her. "Mike Matheny?" he spoke in an almost guess.

With that, she looked back to the puzzle, counting the spaces before looking to him with a smile. "It fits."

He leaned forward and gave her a sweet kiss which April couldn't help but lean into. As soon as their kiss began to turn passionate, they felt someone push their lips apart. Then their bodies. When they opened their eyes, they saw that Mike had forced his way between the two and was now sitting on the couch between them. April rolled her eyes as he looked back and forth between the two with a big smile. "And what would your father say if he walked downstairs and saw this?"

"But you found us and he didn't." April countered with a big, cheesy smile.

He just rolled his eyes at her before turning to look at William, looking him up and down unimpressed. Mike didn't like William from the beginning. He didn't know what it was about him, but he just didn't like him. They had been dating for over a month and he thought his distaste for him might change, but he still hated having the kid around all the time. "Yeah," Mike spoke, looking straight forward again while straightening out his jacket. "Well, I may not be the best person to find you two like that either."

William didn't have much of a liking for Mike either. It was how close he was to her. William wasn't as close to April as Mike was, and for that, he found himself jealous. Even if William was her boyfriend, he still felt second place to Mike. And tonight, when she got her present from him, he was going to talk to her about it.

"There's my birthday girl!" Ben called from the steps, making April roll her eyes slightly with a big smile on her face. He would always say that to her. _Every_ birthday.

"Thanks, Dad." She called out as he met her in a hug as she stood up.

Ben honestly couldn't believe his little girl was turning nineteen today. He felt like it was the other day that she was walking around in diapers. Now, she was in her last year as a teenager. Next year at this time, she would be a full fledged adult. That was one thing he wasn't sure how to deal with.

When they pulled out of the hug, he put his hands to her face, causing her to squint her eyes at him from how big her smile had gotten. He then moved out of the way for Maggie to give her a huge hug like her father had. Maggie was the one who was more at ease with her daughter growing up. April had kind of always been a grown up. That's why it was so much easier. She only had to watch a little bit of the kid in her disappear. "Happy birthday." She whispered in her ear.

"Thank you." She spoke before breaking away in the hug.

Then Conner looked at her, hating that he was in this monkey suit because of her birthday. "Happy birthday." he sighed out.

"Wow." April spoke in a sarcastic voice while ruffling his hair. "Thanks, kid."

That made him stick his tongue out at her which she just did right back. "Okay," Mike began, putting his hand on her shoulder to guide her out. "If we let this start, we're gonna be here all night."

"True." Ben spoke in agreeance with Maggie before grabbing her hand and leading her out. As they began to walk outside, Ben turned his head back to his daughter. "April," she looked to him immediately, ready for what he had to say. "We'll take William in our limo, there's something special in yours for you."

She gave a confused look to William, but he just shrugged. He honestly had no idea what her secret surprise was. When she looked back to Mike, though, he had a knowing smile on his face. "What do you have up your sleeve?" She whispered to him.

"You'll see." He whispered back to her, that devious smile still the same as the one from the first moment they had ever met.

She simply rolled her eyes at him as he opened the door and she ducked her head in. Once she finally got in the limo, she saw what her surprise was and she had never been happier. "Surprise!" her best friends all spoke as one.

April looked over to Mike, amazement in her eyes as he just shrugged, looking to the driver with that know-it-all smile on his face. "We're all good back here."

April began greeting all of the friends she left back in Pennsylvania, all of them talking about what they had been up to since April had left back in January. Somewhere, along the line, the girls got lost in conversation, giving April the perfect time to turn to look at Mike. She studied him be his usual self, look at everything, measure possible threats, but she just couldn't stop smiling at him. "How?"

He looked to her, obviously taken off guard by that question. His eyebrows furrowed together, only making April smile even more. "What?" He asked for clarification.

She leaned closer to him, looking to the girls, making sure they were still lost in conversation. "How did you get them all here?"

He looked to the girls, shaking his head with a smile before looking back to April. "Don't look at me. This was your father's gift."

April scoffed as she looked to him, shaking her head in defiance. "No, I didn't tell my father that what I wanted more than anything for my birthday was a night with all of my friends." He looked to her, smiling, wishing she wouldn't have caught on, but at the same time glad she did. "I told _you_ that."

Mike sighed, looking out the window for a moment before looking back to her. "Well, if your father asked, this is his present to you."

April leaned closer to him, so close she could smell his cologne and he, her perfume. "Our secret." She whispered.

He turned to look at her, and for a moment, they were both intoxicated by their smells. Suddenly, the car slowed to a stop, tearing them out of their moment. "We're here." Mike spoke, looking almost bashful which made April's smile just get bigger. She loved fucking with him.

One of the worst things April had realized quickly about being the first family was that they couldn't go _anywhere_ secretly. A birthday dinner being a prime example. Paparazzi lined the walkway into the restaurant as they tried to make their way through. April was trailing behind everyone with Mike. April was smiling to everyone, but then Mike pulled her into his chest at the close quarters they were experiencing. April still kept her smile though, moving to fix her earring as Mike leaned into her, whispering, "Stay center, don't venture to the sides. They can pull you in."

She nodded and Mike pulled away from her with a smile as they continued to walk through the crowd. When they eventually got into the restaurant, it was a lot calmer. Less of a Secret Service nightmare. April was having fun and she was safe, that's all that mattered to the agents tonight. She was all that mattered tonight.

The girls stayed up all night and danced, but after April went home, William joined her. That was the night of their first time. That was her big birthday present from him. After it was done, the two laid in the bed together, experiencing the wonderful feeling of pillow talk.

"Hey." William whispered to her, causing her to look up at him with sleepy eyes. "Can I talk to you about something?"

Her eyes got a little brighter, nodding, making William suddenly feel guilty for what he was about to ask her. "It's about Mike."

She shut her eyes, almost like the name calmed her, making William get scared again. She snuggled into his chest, taking a deep relaxing breath. "What about Mike?"

"I think," William spoke cautiously. "He shouldn't be on your security detail as much."

That made April immediately open her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing in the moment. She slowly looked up at him, more accusing this time. "Why?"

William began to laugh, finding it hard to believe that he actually had to explain why he wanted him off her security detail. "He's inappropriate," he spoke, getting ready to list things off. "He is always getting in-between us, he – "

"If it wasn't for Mike," April began to speak, sitting up in bed now, William following her. "I would be dead."

"What has he done for you?" William spoke, his voice raising. "What big threat have you been in that he's protected you from?!" When April didn't say anything, William just nodded. "He hasn't done _anything_ for you, April. I don't understand why you need him so much."

"Because!" She yelled, not finding a legitimate answer for herself either. She honestly didn't know why she was defending Mike so much. Maybe it was the fact that it was coming from William. Or the fact that from day one, he had been her favorite agent. They had a bond. She couldn't explain it. She was sure no one could.

"Because you love him?!" William finally asked, that question digging in the back of his head like a shard of glass for the past two months.

April opened her mouth, not sure what to say to that. She couldn't love him. That was impossible. But there was something. "April," William spoke slowly, moving his hand to grab hers. "I can't be with you if Mike is in your life like the way he is."

April sat there for a moment, knowing she had to make a very hard decision. Mike off of he security detail would give her William. With William, she couldn't have Mike. "April?" William asked, bringing her back from thought. He didn't expect her to take this long to answer. He thought it would be easy for her to choose. Now he was seeing how much Mike had really meant to her.

April's blue eyes met William's haunted green. After looking in those eyes, she knew her answer. She would rather have those crystal blues than the mysterious green. "I choose Mike."

Hurt simply passed over William's face before the anger kicked in. "You know," he almost spat out. "I thought you would be smart enough to actually make the right decision."

"William," She was genuinely shocked at his outburst while he got up from her bed.

"I hope you know that the only reason that I started going out with you was to get close to your dad. To try to rise up in the political ladder." April could feel her eyes begin to water as he talked while he put on his clothes. "And then I started to really like you." He shook his head while moving to her door. "What a fucking mistake." He mumbled just before slamming the door shut.

All April could do was sit there for a moment and let it all sink in. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She couldn't believe she actually fell for someone like that. And she couldn't help but think that she lost him because of Mike. All she wanted to do was be comforted by him, but at the same time, she hated him. She didn't want to talk to him, but he was the only one that she could talk to.

"Miss. Asher?" A voice came from the other side of the door followed by a knock. She let out a deep breath, knowing they must have seen William storm out. He was probably pulling his car out right now, but she didn't have the voice to speak at the moment. It was like the wind had been knocked out of her. The words couldn't even form on her mouth.

The door opened even if she said nothing. She knew that they would come in. Her safety was the biggest priority. She was honestly surprised she had snuck William in there. She wasn't really watching, but she knew it was Roma. He was in front of her room last time she had seen him. "April?" he asked slowly, never seeing her that quiet before. "Is everything okay? What was all of that about?"

She finally looked up at him, taking a deep breath, fully prepared to tell him everything that happened, but as soon as she opened her mouth to talk, gasps came out as tears fell down her eyes. Roma felt so bad that she sat in front of him crying for something he didn't know about. He slowly closed the door behind him before sitting on the bed with April, holding her hand while she cried out all she could with her head resting on his shoulder.

* * *

Breakfast was being set on the table as everyone crowded around. Conner was excitedly telling Ben about the newest episode of his favorite TV show, but Maggie had noticed that April hadn't even come downstairs for coffee yet. She looked to Ben, but she saw the excitement in Conner's eye. She didn't want to break up that conversation, so, she looked to Mike instead. When he made eye contact with her, he gave her a quizzical look. She simply looked up and pointed to the second floor while lipping April's name. He gave her a small nod before retreating upstairs to find that now brunette nineteen year old.

Roma was still in April's room. He didn't want to leave her alone after everything that had happened and he was going to stay there until she told him otherwise. April's head was just resting at the foot of her bed while looking up at the ceiling, but Roma was sitting on the edge of her bed, just watching her. Every second that passed by that April was still quit, it boggled his mind even more.

There was suddenly a knock on her door, taking them both by surprise. "April?" That was Mike's voice. "Breakfast is ready, everyone's waiting. Let's go."

Roma turned to look at her cautiously which she shook her head to. "I don't want to see him." She whispered out. "I don't want to see anybody. Just tell him I don't feel good."

"April?" Mike called again.

"What am I supposed to tell your mom and dad?" Roma asked with a panicked face and getting up from the bed.

"Anything but the truth." She barked while pushing him to the door before Mike could bust it in.

As soon as Mike thought about busting the door in, Roma opened the door, causing Mike to look him up and down in confusion. "April isn't really feeling well right now. I don't think she's gonna come down for breakfast."

"Well," Mike spoke, his voice holding as much confusion as his face. "We'll send a physician up there."

"I don't think that's the best idea. I think she just needs to sleep it off."

Mike's eyebrows furrowed even deeper. None of this was making sense to him. Why couldn't April tell him all of this? "Can I talk to her?"

Roma peeked back into the room, immediately seeing April vigorously shake her head. When he turned back to Mike, he noticed that he was trying to spy into the room. "She doesn't want that."

Mike stared at him for a moment before looking to the door. "April, come out here so I can talk to you."

"Not on your life, Banning!"

He looked to the door as if it was the one who insulted him. "You heard her." Roma spoke, causing Mike to look right back at him. "She doesn't want to see anyone." He shrugged as he opened the door to go back into her room. "Not even you, Mike."

When the door shut in Mike's face, he didn't know what to do. It was driving him crazy, not being able to help her when he had been so used to being the only one she would go to. He just didn't understand what could have been so bad that she couldn't even tell him. In that moment where all he could do was stare at the door, he knew that he was going to do anything to find out what the hell was wrong with her.

* * *

Conner met Mike in the walls, ready for the debriefing on what was going to happen with April. April still hadn't come out of her room, and Ben and Maggie were starting to get worried. Hell, even Conner was getting worried. This wasn't like April. She was talking to no one and that was the most surprising thing about all of it. She wasn't talking to _anyone_. Roma didn't even know what was happening, but he could put together a conclusion. He just didn't voice his conclusion.

Mike was working with the left over ear pieces they had before the Secret Service got new ones. They ran on a completely different channel than the new ones so they wouldn't interfere and no one would know their secret little plan. "Have you ever used a walkie talkie before?" Mike asked while handing the ear piece to him.

"Yeah." He spoke obviously.

"Well, it's kind of like that." Mike told him while clipping the microphone to his shirt. "You talk into the mic, but you press the button in your ear piece to talk."

Conner stood there for a moment, before looking to Mike with a confused face. "That's weird."

"Hell yeah it is." Mike spoke while putting his in his ear. "Now, you are my look out. If anyone remotely has a suspicion about where I am, what is our code word?"

"Happy April Fools." Conner spoke with an obvious nod.

"Good." Mike told him with a nod and the point of a finger.

Mike turned around, getting all of the equipment he would need for the plan when Conner spoke, "Hey, Mike." He turned around, expecting just a question of clarification out of him, but Conner's face was worried. "Is April going to be okay?"

Mike looked at him for a moment, knowing he couldn't promise that to him, but he had to make him feel safe. Make his sister feel safe. That was his job. "Yeah." He spoke as he put his hands on his shoulders. "I'm sure it's nothing major, okay?" He leaned in, his face getting more playful that time. "She's probably hungover." Conner laughed, causing Mike to smile as he pat his arm. "She'll be fine."

Conner nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Mike." He gave him a light slap on the face before standing up straight and going off to help April. How hard could it possibly be?

* * *

Mike was struggling to get to April's window, feeling himself falling from scaling the White House. This was hard. It was very hard. He was just under the window, reaching out and knocking on the it, hoping she would notice him before he fell to his death.

April's eyebrows furrowed at the sound, turning to look at her window, seeing a hand reaching up her window sill. She immediately moved to the other side of the room, picking up her bat and inching towards the window. "April." Mike called in a weak voice.

She recognized the voice immediately, dropping her bat and running to the window. "Oh my god!" It was more angry than concerned as she watched his feet dangling below her. "Mike!"

She opened up the window, pulling him into her room by the hand which he climbed the rest of the way into. Once he was on the floor, he began to thank how great floors were. "Thanks." He breathed as April glared at him with hands on her hips.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" she screamed at him as he finally stood up, still matching her glare.

"First of all," he spoke while brushing the dust off of his suit. "I just scaled the wall into your room and no one did anything, we're getting high security out here."

She scoffed while rolling her eyes. "Oh my god." She yelled at him from the audacity that he had to bring that up while Mike shut her window, making sure to lock it.

"Second," he spoke, twirling around to give her a look on annoyance mixed with slight concern. "What the _hell_ has been going on with you today?"

"None of your damn business." She spoke, kind of blaming him for what happened between her and William. She turned around, trying to get away from him as fast as she could. She didn't want to talk to him about all of this and she didn't want to fight, but it looked like they were going to have to fight.

He looked at her like she was insane for walking away from him. She opened the door to her bathroom, giving him a challenging look before slamming the door shut. Mike stood there for a moment, letting everything she just did process in his brain. "Like hell it isn't!" He charged after her, throwing the bathroom door open, catching sight of her looking at herself in the mirror.

Her palms were against the counter, breathing heavily, simply staring at herself like she was a monster. Mike opened his mouth, about to scream at her for being so defiant, but she caught something in the corner of the mirror. "You're bleeding."

The statement took him completely off guard. He didn't feel any amount of pain until she said something. April turned around to look at him, pointing at his leg because she knew he had no idea where it was coming from. "You're bleeding." she spoke again, pointing at his leg this time. "Sit down." She commanded before pointing to the edge of the tub. Mike looked to her for a moment before doing as she told.

April was rummaging through under her sink, finally pulling out a first aid kit, getting down on the floor in front of him. "I'm a nursing major." She told him with that same flirty smile as she rolled up his pant leg.

She began to clean the cut, Mike jumping a little at the pain, but he didn't take his eyes off of her. "Good to know."

"I have my CNA," she spoke suddenly, kind of taking him off guard. "So, my senior year of high school, I got a job at the hospital in downtown Harrisburg." She finally looked up from the cut to look at Mike, noticing his confused look. "The capitol city of Pennsylvania."

"I know." He spoke while shaking his head with that look of confusion still on his face. "What I don't get is why you got a job if your father was the governor."

April chuckled a little bit, beginning to reminisce. "Dad told me it would help my character …and he was right." Her lips tugged into a smirk. "Don't tell my dad that."

Mike just laughed as April looked back down to his leg. Mike then thought of what she had said earlier. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

She looked back up at him, hurt plastered all over her face, not totally knowing the answer to his question. "Maybe all of that is related to how much I want to help people." She was looking off into space like she was rethinking her whole life which was making Mike become very worried about what was going through her head. "Like you with your leg." She looked back to him, Mike giving her a sympathetic look at the tears forming in her eyes. "I put off going to college to help my dad with his campaign." The first tear fell down her cheek, causing her to shake her head. This was the reason she didn't want to see Mike all day. She knew the second she saw him, she was going to fall apart. "Like how I helped William get in on the in crowd of politics and didn't even realize that he was using me the whole time before breaking my heart."

Mike didn't care if she wasn't done with his leg or if he was bleeding, he was going to pull her in for the biggest hug he could give her. He now knew why she didn't want to come out of her room. She couldn't tell her dad because she didn't want to get in the way of his job. She couldn't tell her mom because she would tell her father. She _shouldn't_ have told Mike because Mike knew the second he saw him again he was going to kill him.

"Next time I see that fuckboy I'm punching him in the nuts."

"Mike," she sighed out as she pulled away from the hug. "Don't."

"That fucker – "

"Mike," she spoke sternly this time, getting his attention immediately. "I don't want to talk to him again, to see him again or have anything to do with him again. I just want to forget about it." He looked to her, really wanting to knock that guy's teeth in, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't do that to April. "I want to forget about him."

"Okay." He spoke reluctantly after a pause, before putting his arm around her and sinking down to her level, the two leaning against the bathtub. They stayed like that for a moment, April loving that she had someone like this in her life. Someone she could tell anything to. A best friend. She would take him over that fuckboy William Guthrie any day. "I honestly thought you were in here because of the article that came out today."

Her eyebrows scrunched together before looking back to him, a confused face matching Mike's concerned one. As if she didn't have enough to worry about, she now had to worry about a new article about her. "What article?"

Mike sighed. He really wished he would keep his mouth shut sometimes. "Google April Asher." He spoke as he removed his arm from around her shoulders. "I'm sure you'll find it in less than two seconds."

April gave him a skeptical look as she pulled out her phone, doing as he said, immediately finding the article he was talking about. It was in every gossip website imaginable, causing her to roll her eyes. "The Not-So Secret Service." She read while giving Mike an annoyed look. "What? Did they get that title from a cereal box?"

Mike shrugged with a dark chuckle rumbling in his throat. "Wait until you get to the picture."

"There's a picture?" She asked, giving him another look, hard to believe that they would actually do this on her birthday. He simply nodded toward the phone, knowing she would just have to scroll down to see it. When she did, she realized that there was a picture of her and Mike when he had pulled her in to whisper to her. She had a smile on her face, directed to the fans while Mike had a smile on his face to make it look like nothing bad was going to happen. "Oh my god." She whispered with a bit of a smile on her face, not being able to believe how wrong they were.

"Yeah, apparently we're in a secret relationship." She looked to him, her lips pursed as he gave her a flirty look she had to roll her eyes to.

"Yeah right." She whispered while looking back to the article.

Mike smiled as he watched her read, putting his arm around her again as her head leaned back on his shoulder. Mike just continued to watch her, knowing just what she knew. He could never ask for a better best friend.

 ** _Mrs. Happy Anarchy: Thanks as always for being so dedicated. I'm glad it made you smile. I love when my work can make other people happy! If Mike would have supervised that date, it would have been awful. Hahaha!_**

 ** _Scarlet: Thank you so much for reading, it means a whole lot to me. I'm a huge fan of Gerard too. He's so great. It might take a bit to get to, but more is going to happen between them during the summer. And you sent that review in on my birthday and it just made me really happy so thank you again for that review!_**

 ** _Guys, I am so sorry this chapter took so long to get to you. It seemed like every time I sat down to write it, I just got busy all over again. I hope you guys liked it and remember to review and stay tuned!_**


	5. The White House Easter Egg Roll

_**April**_

April smiled as she weaved her way through the group of small children. It had taken her a while to get ready, but when Mike saw her, he knew all that time she spent was worth it. She wore a green dress with brown flowers all over with a green cardigan to match and white heels. Mike was really proud of the way she had pulled herself together in the past few weeks. With everything that happened with William and the picture of the two of them coming out, she had handled it all respectively well. Not only was Mike proud of her, the entire Asher clan was. Well, except Conner. He didn't see there was a reason to be proud of her. She just continued to carry on as same old April. He just didn't know how hard that was for her.

When April finally looked up from the small children, she saw Mike smiling at her so she returned back a small smile. When she finally reached him, she rolled her eyes. "I know I'm hot, Banning, but take a picture and it will last longer."

"No." He shook his head as she joined him at his left side, his eyes going straight forward. "I was just wondering why you picked such an ugly puke green color."

Her hand automatically met his arm with a hard slap which he just smiled to. They looked back to all of the kids, smiling at how they were all having fun, especially Conner. He was off talking to a little girl, making them both smile. "How much do you want to bet that Conner is going to blow it?" April asked Mike with a devious smile on her face.

"Are you kidding me?" Mike scoffed while looking off at the two kids. "No. Not with what I've been teaching him."

April turned to look at him, her eyebrows furrowed. "What have you been teaching him?"

"You know," he spoke with a shrug. "The normal on how to talk to girls."

She raised an eyebrow at him which he shrugged to, making her look back to Conner and the girl. That's when Conner put up his hand, leaning on the side of the White House while her back was to it. April's mouth dropped as laughter began to pour out of her. "Oh my god." She turned to look back to Mike, her mouth still dropped. "You taught him how to be a fuckboy."

"I did not." Mike spoke, offended with her.

"You may not realize it," she spoke while looking back over to Conner. "But you did."

"So, are you saying I'm a fuckboy?" Mike asked while crossing his arms.

April looked back to him, a playful smile on her face. Just as she opened her mouth, there was a loud pop that filled the air, followed by screams. April looked over, but before she could see anything going on, Mike tackled her down. There was another pop and more screams, Mike making it his job to cover her entire body so she wouldn't get hurt. April's hand moved to Mike's as he grabbed it instantly as tight as possible.

There were two more pops, April cringing at every one, as Mike just held her tighter and the area was filled with grave silence. "Gunman down." One of the other agents spoke into Mike's earpiece.

Mike slowly started to sit up, his arm still on April's neck, forcing her into the grass. "Stay down." She nodded rapidly as Mike continued to look around. He could see a group of the agents around someone lying on the ground as everyone else was on the ground, some protecting others, but the majority of them had their hands over their heads.

He slowly brought April up when he saw for himself that the threat was gone. She looked around with a frantic look on her face as her breath went in and out rapidly. When Mike looked back to her, he saw how terrified she was. He put his hands on her shoulders, studying her face all over. "Are you okay?" She just nodded, still looking around all over, just nodding so he would think she was okay. "April, look at me." he spoke, breaking her out of her terrified trance to stare right into those icy blue eyes she had become so acquainted with. "Are you okay?"

She bit her lip, knowing she couldn't lie to him. She shook her head as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a tight hug. April stood there for a moment before wrapping her arms around his entire back, feeling herself begin to cry into his shoulder.

"April!" they heard Conner call out.

April immediately broke away from Mike, hurrying to her little brother with open arms. "Conner!" She cried out, practically picking him up in the hug. Mike just continued to look at the two. His heart was pinching in his chest. The fact that those two kids were so close to losing their lives. It hurt him. Those kids slowly became his everything. If anything happened to either of them, he would lose his mind.

"Conner!" All of them turned to see Ben and Maggie hurrying towards them. "April!"

"Dad!" Conner yelled, running into his arms.

"Mom!" April screamed out, practically tackling Maggie down with a hug.

All Mike could do was watch them. April and Conner could have been killed today and Mike didn't do anything to make sure that didn't happen. He knew he shouldn't, but he felt guilty. He felt like he could have done something. And now, he was going to make sure that April and Conner were the most protected kids the White House had ever seen.

* * *

"This is honestly ridiculous." April complained with her hands on her hips while watching Mike pound nails into her windowsill.

"Yeah, well," Mike spoke, inspecting his handy work before stepping back. "You'll thank me when the time comes."

"Mike," she began calmly, knowing that if she didn't talk to him calmly, she would explode. "It was one incident that wasn't even remotely close to my bedroom. You are being insane!" She finally screamed, feeling Mike's overprotectiveness smothering her. Her own father hadn't been like this since the shooting.

"You need your window for something?" He questioned in that sarcastic ass hole way he always did with her.

April threw her hands in the air, completely irritated. "I would like to enjoy the freedom to open up my window and get a nice spring breeze!"

Mike shrugged like it was no big deal. "You can go outside."

She scoffed, completely done with him before turning into her bathroom to get ready. "Get out of my room!" She yelled as she began to undress for the repeat of the Easter Egg Roll.

Mike leaned against her bathroom door, knowing he couldn't enter because of her current state, but he had to make her understand in some way why he was acting this way. "April," he spoke slowly and softly. That was enough to stop her and listen. That voice, she would listen to any day. "I _need_ you to be safe." As he said that, she felt her heart tighten at how vulnerable he was in that moment. "If anything were to happen to you, I would never be able to forgive myself." She thought back to what William had accused her of a few weeks ago. _Because you love him?!_ She wasn't _in love_ with Mike, but she did love him. Obviously more than William.

She opened the door to her bathroom, now fully clothed in a new mint green dress for the occasion. "Mike," Her eyes were a lot softer when Mike's almost hurt eyes flickered to her. "I get it." She spoke softly, playing with the hot pink belt accentuating how small her waist was.

Mike smiled down at her, their height always such a major difference. "Thank you." he whispered before leaning forward and planting a kiss on her forehead.

When he pulled away, April sighed, almost bouncing at wanting to tell him this next part. "Just ease up a little?" He rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but smile at her. She understood, but this was a teenager that they were talking about. She wasn't down for any restrictions. "You can't protect me from everything."

"I can damn well try." he spoke before pointing the door. "Now get your ass out there, everyone's waiting for you." She smiled. That was the Mike she knew following her. "Honestly, why does it take you two years to get ready?"

"Oh," she spoke, turning back to look at him from the door. Mike's smile just got wider at the sight of hers. "Shut your face."

* * *

Mike kept his eyes trained on everything going on around them. Nothing would be able to stop him from that this time. He hadn't even seen April since he escorted her outside. While Mike's eyes were trained on every guest that passed him, Ben showed up next to him. "Sir," Mike acknowledged without even looking at him.

Ben smiled a little bit while looking over at him, finding this all so amusing. Sure, Mike was great at his job, but he was usually playful. Today, though, he had laser focus. No amount of playfulness was on his face. "You know," Ben began, not directly looking at him. "We're all fine. Me. Maggie. Conner. April." He made sure to save April's name for last, knowing he was the most worried about her.

Mike turned to look at him, smiling a little bit. "I'm glad to hear that."

"And it's okay to let your guard down just a little bit." Ben continued, trying to make his point.

"With all due respect, sir," Mike began, knowing he had to say that before he got to his point. "I don't tell you how to do your job."

Ben nodded, his head going from side to side, knowing just how blunt Mike could be. "Fair." He then moved closer to Mike, knowing he was most definitely going to want to hear this next part. "I just saw April hurrying off with William Guthrie." Mike's head snapped to the president, his eyes automatically filling with fire at what he just heard. No way was this kid around April again. "If you wouldn't mind checking on that."

Mike almost ran Ben over with how fast he hurried off to go find her. She was going to be in trouble when he found her. Especially if she was actually thinking about getting back with that fuckboy.

He finally found the two towards the back lawn of the White House, near one of the very big trees where hardly anyone was at. They were talking passionately, hands waving and those blue eyes Mike couldn't find himself without, turning into a hot red.

"What the hell is going on over here?"

When they both looked to Mike, charging for them, April's eyes immediately filled with fear while William's filled with annoyance. "Nothing." April spoke, her eyes going back to William, a hateful stare on her face.

"Bullshit." Mike spoke, turning to roll his eyes at her before turning back to William, giving him another death glare. "What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

William moved towards him, getting right in his face. "Well, Miss. Perfect invited me."

Mike looked behind William, making direct eye contact with April. "You and I are going to have a conversation later that you're not going to like much." April rolled her eyes at him, but her glare immediately moved back to William, burning a hole in his back.

"Newsflash," William spoke with a bit of a chuckle, getting into Mike's face again, Mike's glare getting even deeper than before…if that was even possible. "You're not her boyfriend, you're a glorified security guard, and you can't tell her what to do."

Mike stood there for a moment, an angry smile spreading across his face as he looked around the immediate area. When his glare finally got back to William, he tackled him down. "Oh my god!" April screamed, watching the two wrestling each other on the grass.

And of course, the president's daughter arguing with her ex-boyfriend didn't attract the press, but her ex-boyfriend and the man she was having an alleged affair with fighting in the middle of the White House Easter Egg Roll caught their attention. "Stop!" April screamed, trying to pull Mike off of William. It wasn't for William, it was for the sake of both of their reputations. Cameras flashed all around them, and as soon as that happened, the rest of the Secret Service agents were there to tear apart the fight.

"You know what?" William screamed to Mike as they were both getting pulled apart, April immediately at Mike's side, grabbing onto his arm to keep him from launching into another attack, knowing he had the strength to break out of the grip he was in. "You can have her." He shrugged off the grip the agents had on him, throwing his hands in the air. "She's just my sloppy seconds."

Mike was in a fury, thinking about ripping his head off in front of all of the cameras here, but April was furious. That's when she charged forward, sucker punching him right in the nose. "Ass hole." She called before he fell to the ground unconscious.

Her hand was throbbing, but she honestly didn't feel it at the moment. The adrenaline was still pumping through her. Mike couldn't do anything, but look her up and down. She knocked him out with one hit and probably broke his nose along with her hand. Damn, he was impressed.

Ben pushed through the crowd, finally seeing his best agent sweaty and being held back by all of his other agents, his daughter's right hand broken and purple, and finally, his daughter's ex-boyfriend and current youngest member of the House of Representatives lying on the ground in front of them all, blood coming out of his nose and unconscious. He sighed, taking the whole thing in. "Maybe a redo of this event wasn't the best idea."

* * *

April sat on the right side of the couch in the middle of the Oval Office, her right hand wrapped up in a cast while Mike sat next to her, a few bruises and scars on his face and William the farthest from April with bandages on his nose, a big black bruise around the bandages. Ben and Maggie sat at the couch in across of them, looking back and forth at the three. They didn't know who they were the most disappointed in, but they could all agree that they hated William.

Allan Trumbull, Speaker of the House, was walking back and forth between the couches, trying to find what to say while Lynne Jacobs stood near the desk, giving Mike the death glare of all death glares. "The amount of shenanigans that have happened during this office have been inexcusable." He stopped pacing, turning so he was facing the three siting on the couch. "And they all seem to come down to the three of you."

April and Mike shared a worried look before turning back to Alan. "It's all on me, sir." Mike spoke immediately.

"No." April immediately interjected. "It's all on me. Don't take this out on Mike."

William scoffed, causing them both to give him a dirty look. "What's that supposed to mean?" Mike asked.

"Nothing." He spoke with the shake of the head. "You two are just so perfect for each other."

April leaned over Mike, looking William right in the eye with an angry stare. "Do you want me to break another bone?"

"That is enough." Ben spoke in a stern voice, April immediately leaning back into her seat, knowing that voice better than anything.

"Mr. Speaker," Lynne spoke, gaining everyone's attention back to the Secret Service Director. "Mike is the best agent we have. Any trouble caused by him," her voice got stern as she looked over to Mike. "I guarantee, is worth it."

Allan looked back over to the three on the couch, knowing something had to be done for everything they had all caused. "In the time of four months, a Jackson Pollock original has gone missing," Mike looked at April, giving him a concerned look, still not knowing where that painting was. "The press has printed multiple stories on your head Secret Service agent and the President's daughter and now a full out brawl in the middle of the White House lawn."

The three continued to sit there, not sure what to say to any of that. They knew it was all true. April and Mike both knew it was their fault, but it was all natural reactions of normal problems.

"Mr. Speaker," Mike spoke, standing up, everyone's eyes going immediately to him. He looked to April, knowing he had to stand up to all this for her. "We can't be at fault for the press following every bit of our problems." He shrugged while looking over to Ben and Maggie. "This is a family. They're going to have family issues that they can't help, yesterday included. And if you can't accept that like how you accepted Bill cheating on Hillary, with all due respect sir, you can go fuck yourself."

April's mouth dropped with a bit of a smile as Mike walked out of the office, leaving everyone else to mull over what he had just said. Lynne had her eyes shut after everything he had said, hardly being able to believe this was her best agent and all the pain he was causing. William was pissed off as usual and Ben and Maggie didn't know if they should laugh or go do something about it. April decided to break up the silence by being the first person to stand up and walk out.

She hurried down the hallway, seeing Mike's back, hurrying after it. "Mike!" She called out, causing him to finally turn around. "Thank you for standing up for me."

Mike shook his head, moving closer to her. "Anytime."

She nodded, that smirk she always used with him creeping back on her face before she turned around. "Hey, April!" he called, turning her around instantly, ready to listen.

He stood there for a moment, try to come up with words that wouldn't sound derogatory even though this was the only subject he wanted to use derogatory words for. "Why was William at the Easter Egg Roll?"

April bit her lip, moving towards him, knowing this was going to be hard to talk about. "Yeah, that's something I really wanted to talk to you about, but was kind of scared to." He turned his head to the side, curious to what she was talking about and then at the same time, just as scared as she was for what he was going to have to do.

* * *

William was at his favorite bar, drinking crappy beer and watching the only sports program you could get at two in the morning. This particular one happened to be a soccer game. Brazil vs London. While William signaled for the bartender to get him another drink, April sat down next to him, giving him a slight smile. When William finally recognized her, he looked shocked. Almost like her there was all he had ever wanted. "April? What are you doing here?"

She didn't look at William, though. She looked right past him. Right at Mike in the chair on the other side of him. William turned, let out an angry sigh once he realized what she was looking at, turning back to his beer. "How are you doing, William?" Mike asked, April smiling at the way his accent crept out.

"What the hell do you both want?"

Mike shared a look with April before looking back to William. "April told me about the deal you two worked out." William looked over at him, shifting slightly. "She told me about the pictures you took after sex and how you threatened to leak those pictures to the press if she didn't keep giving you sex whenever you wanted."

William finished off his beer, knowing Mike was about to kill him. Just as he finished it, his thoughts came true, Mike grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, lifting up off the ground, looking him right in the eye. "Here's what you're gonna do," Mike started with a smile as the bartender just watched with a worried face. "You're going to delete those pictures you have of her and you're never gonna talk to her again."

"The other thing." April reminded like he had actually forgot, but Mike would never forget.

"That's right." Mike spoke with a nod. "You're also gonna tell the whole world what an ass hole you are, but you're gonna tell everyone that April was your beard and when she no longer agreed to it, you got violent. Got it?"

William nodded, his eyes filled with fear, knowing he would do anything in that moment to get Mike out of his face. "And if you don't follow up on any of these conditions, I'm gonna track you down and I'm gonna fucking kill you for ever bothering her." He pushed William away from him, letting him finally run out.

Mike sat up on the bar stool next to where William was as April took William's spot and untouched new beer. "I don't think he'll be bothering you anytime soon."

"I owe you." April spoke while taking a slug of the beer, knowing Mike wouldn't say anything if she didn't. "Big time."

"Oh," Mike spoke, sarcasm dripping in his voice. "That was my god damn pleasure."

April laughed as Mike signaled the bartender, quickly ordering a glass of bourbon, the two sipping on their drinks together. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." She whispered, causing Mike to look back to her with a concerned look.

"You were scared." He defended.

She gripped her beer, thinking back on all of it. "But I don't want to be scared." Mike looked to her, realizing she was never more serious about something in her entire life. "Even back with the shooter." She was shaking her head, feeling this epiphany hit her like a ton of bricks. "I want to be stronger than that." She turned to look at Mike, pure determination on her face. "Can you teach me how to protect myself?"

Mike smiled as he looked at her. He thought she would never ask. "We start as soon as that hand heals."

She smiled at him, his smile just getting wider as they raised up their drinks and clinked them together in cheers, knowing tomorrow was going to be a start to something new.

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: William is just that character that is not to be trusted. You can tell especially in this chapter that he's just a sketchy person. I'm real excited to write OHF with April in it, but of course we still got a little way to go. Thanks for your reviews!**_

 _ **kgriswold249: William is not one to be trusted. Gladly, this is the last chapter he will be in so we can rejoice for that. I hope you liked this chapter, sweetie and thank you for the review!**_

 _ **Okay guys, I'm the worst person ever for getting this up to you guys so late. School is kicking my ass right now and my weekends are booked up with work and work. I hope you all liked this one and remember to review!**_


	6. April's New BFF

_**June**_

April stared Mike down in the boxing ring of the workout room. She was determined to beat him this time. If it was the last thing she did. She swung, but he spun her around, gripping her waist tightly and pulling his arm up to her chest, symbolizing a knife that could have been stabbed into her heart. April shut her eyes, for sure that she had that one this time. "What did you do?" He asked like a parent that had caught his child doing something wrong.

She sighed, her chest falling up and down rapidly against his hand. "I forgot to keep my hands up." She spoke, angry with herself at forgetting something that simple.

"And where would that get you?" He questioned. She rolled her eyes slightly. Coach Mike was the harshest Mike she had ever met.

"Dead." She spoke point blank.

He spun her out of the grip he had her in, the two facing each other back in a combat style. "Go again."

She punched at him, but he blocked, her keeping her hands up this time to block him from turning her over. She pushed him into the side of the ring, but his strength trumped hers, throwing her into the rope just like she had done to him. That's when she got a good idea. She kneed him in the gut, sending him back slightly and then she kneed his head, sending him into a dazed confusion on what the hell just happened. Before he could do anything else, she pushed him to the ground to immediately climb on top of him, putting a finger gun to his head with a smirk on her face. "You're dead."

"That was dirty." He commented, pushing her hand out of his face.

"Yeah, well, if someone is trying to kill me, I don't think that they'll keep it clean."

She got off of him, too soon for Mike's liking before she helped him up. "You don't fight _me_ dirty."

April gave him a fake thinking face, making him just smirk. He loved when they could be assholes together. "Or are you just an old man that's mad he got beat up by an inexperienced girl?"

He smirked at her while shaking his head. "Don't pull that feminism crap on me. I love women and you know it."

"Trust me," April spoke as Mike began to pull off his boxing gloves. "It's not about _loving_ women." She began pulling her gloves off too, once she was finished, tossing them in the box where they kept their boxing gloves. Mike got out of the ring, waiting for April to go under the rope so he could help her down. He grabbed her by her waist, setting her down on the floor as the two began to walk forward. "How's Leah?" April asked, wiping sweat from her brow as they walked.

"She's okay, I guess."

April's eyebrows furrowed as she looked over at him, confused. "You guess?"

Mike shook his head, looking away from her. "I don't want to talk about it, April."

"Then you picked the wrong person to train with this morning." Mike chuckled, knowing she was right. April was probably the most persistent person he knew. "What's going on with Leah?"

Mike sighed, knowing April didn't know what it was like to be married. She wouldn't get all of it. "She's got this friend…Patty or something." April automatically chuckled, knowing exactly what this was about. "And she just keeps talking and talking about this guy she's seeing and how they think he's cheating on her or something."

"You don't even know what's going on in the story." April spoke with a bit of an eye roll. "No shocker."

"What the hell does that mean?" He asked while holding the door open for her.

She turned around to look at him as they made their way into the kitchen. "You don't listen to crap you don't care about." As soon as April pushed the door open, Mike caught it as she went to the fridge. She turned around, half in the fridge, but wanting to see his face for this part. "Remember when I tried to tell you about NSYNCH?"

He reached his hand out, pointing a finger at her. "That was different, I don't give a crap about boy bands."

She threw him a bottle of water which he caught before she leaned against the island, opposite of him. Their faces were so close to the other, he could count every little freckle if he really wanted to and April could see the years of damage in every inch of his skin. "So, I propose that you try listening even when it's shit you don't care about."

Mike squinted a little bit, getting distracted by her eyes, leaning in only slightly. "You have brown flakes in your eyes."

April rolled her eyes, leaning up from what could have been a very intimate moment. "You're an asshole."

"I was listening." April shook her head, turning to the fridge again, trying to find a snack. "You were talking about listening."

When he saw that she was ignoring him, he grabbed her wrist, turning her around instantly, their bodies extremely close together. "Why do you hear me and not your wife?"

Mike shrugged playfully while looking down at her. "You're always interesting."

She gave him a smirk, thinking he was messing with her, causing her to turn around, back into the fridge. That's when Mike had to think back on what they both said. Why _did_ everything April said sound like the newest wonder of the world and everything Leah said sounded like yesterday's news?

Before anything else could happen, Ben and Maggie came into the room. "How could you possibly lack that much taste?" Maggie questioned, tearing April and Mike out of whatever they were doing.

"Maggie," Ben spoke calmly. "Let me wear what I want to wear."

"You can't possibly think the blue tie looks better with a suit that looks that blue?"

Mike and April shared a look before April turned back to the fridge, pulling out a protein shake. "I'm running the country, I'm pretty sure I can run my wardrobe too."

Maggie opened her mouth, about to say something when she noticed April. Well, mostly what April was wearing. It was a hot pink sports bra and tight black leggings with her hair pulled into a sloppy bun leading to loose strands with sweat dripping in a few. She also noticed Mike standing in the area too. "April," she spoke in a commanding tone. "Put on a jacket."

April rolled her eyes, hating to always have this conversation with her mom. It happened the second she hit puberty and got a pretty nice rack. Her mother was always telling her "pull your shirt up", "put on something a little less revealing" or "maybe that's not the best shirt/dress given your circumstances". "It's just a body, mom. Everyone has one."

"Don't argue." Ben commanded just like her mother had.

April gave a dramatic eye roll along with a sigh before moving to the jacket resting on the island. Mike looked at her as she did, feeling kind of bad. He listened to her feministic rants, whether she believed it or not, and he agreed with her. Mike was in a very revealing tank top, his muscles protruding out of every end, and no one asked him to put on a jacket because of it.

"Today's the big day." Maggie spoke, ignoring Ben for the time being and putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders while standing behind her. April rolled her eyes, keeping her eye contact with Mike, making him smirk through the drink he was taking. "Are you excited?"

"Thrilled."

"Don't be an asshole." Maggie whispered, just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

April's mouth dropped while Mike almost spit out his drink. "Dad!" April spoke, trying to get some backup on this one.

"Well, you were kind of being an asshole."

April rolled her eyes, turning back to the fridge, finally pulling out raspberries. "I hate this family."

"Oh." Maggie spoke as Ben just chuckled at his daughter's response. "Give me some."

"No." She spoke, pulling the container away from her. "These are my raspberries. Do you physically put 'raspberries' on the list for the shopper? No, so they're mine." She turned all the way away from her with a huff. "It's bad enough I have to share Coca Pebbles with Conner." Conner immediately came into the kitchen after that, hurrying for a bowl of Coca Pebbles. "Speak of the devil." She muttered under her breath.

Conner practically pushed April out of the way of the fridge for milk with an eye roll. "You're just mad that I don't have school anymore and you do."

"Am not." She argued.

"Are too." He argued right back.

April got her face down to his level, making sure to look right at him. "Am not!"

He got on his tip toes, trying to do the same thing April was doing. "Are too!"

"You are both too active and angry for the morning." Ben commented with a hand on his temple.

"Both of you," Maggie spoke, almost exasperated. "Stop."

"Conner," Mike spoke, nodding to the bowl of cereal he just poured. "Why don't you take that bowl upstairs with you to watch cartoons?"

"Really?" he asked, practically jumping up and down from excitement.

"Yeah, but if you make a mess, you're cleaning it up and no one's helping you." Conner grabbed the bowl, carefully walking out of the kitchen making April chuckle just a little bit.

Mike then turned to April, an automatic smirk on her face, ready to be her usual defiant self. "You have to get ready for school."

"I don't _have_ to." She spoke with a shrug. "That's the beauty of college, I don't _have_ to do anything."

Mike got closer to her, not really wanting the President hear him threaten his daughter. "If you don't get your ass upstairs and take a shower, I will personally take you back into that ring and kick your ass."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" she whispered into his ear in a seductive voice, her breath hot on his face.

"April," he warned.

"Oh, I'm going. Don't get your panties in a twist." She hurried out of the kitchen, leaving just the adults.

When Mike turned to look at Ben, he saw him looking at his watch. "You got them both out of here in thirty seconds."

A smile spread on Mike's face before he shrugged. "It's my job."

* * *

April sat in the back of her limo, breathing deeply. She asked, well asked isn't the right word, _begged_ them to let her drive there. Mike wouldn't have that. Especially with the shooting that happened just a few months ago. The Secret Service team hated for her to even drive. So, here she was just outside the building of her first class of the day sitting in her limo, the United States flag mounted at the front, telling everyone this was a presidential vehicle. "I hate all of you." Mike looked away from his paper to look at her with a puzzled face. "Why can't you just let me live my life?"

"Because you're the president's daughter," Mike spoke, adjusting how he was sitting so he could look at her better. "Your life will never be normal again."

April's head fell back, taking a deep sigh, confusing Mike even more. "Shouldn't you be really happy that you're starting college? Gonna get fucked up at parties and make out with boys?"

April rolled her eyes, turning her head slightly to look at him. "Yeah, if the paparazzi wasn't following me all day, every day." She scoffed as she turned away from him. "They still think we're in a secret relationship."

Mike studied her some more, knowing April should be really excited about this. "What's going on, Showers?" She smiled a little bit at the sound of her codename. "You're going to be using that brilliant, scientific mind again, you should be happy, but you're sitting in this car sulking." He turned all the way to her direction, causing April to look back to him. "What gives?"

April sighed before shaking her head at him. "How the hell am I going to make friends – real friends – here as the president's daughter?" Mike let out a deep sigh, feeling bad for April in that moment, knowing she had a right to be worried. "You saw what William did to get close to me, how do I know if the people who I consider my friends don't have a hidden agenda the entire time?"

Mike grabbed April's hand which she gripped for dear life, finding herself looking straight forward. "As much as I hate William, I must admit that he had genuine feelings for you. So, what I'm trying to say is that even if someone starts out becoming your friend because of that reason, they're eventually going to become your real friend." She turned to look at him, wondering how he could possibly know that was going to happen. "No one can resist falling for you."

She turned to look at him, smiling slightly. He knew the best things to say to make her feel better, and if it wasn't for him, she was sure she would be stuck in a relationship with that god awful William Guthrie. She gave his hand another tight squeeze with a smile before saying what she knew was going to be tough to bring up with him. "Do you think that we can restrict security to just standing right outside the room I'm in? You don't have to be right next to me at all possible times, do you?"

Mike sighed while looking her up and down. He wanted to keep her as safe as possible, but he knew this was her first day, and this was her first time as the president's daughter. "Fine." She began to applaud, but he rose his finger at her. "But just for today. Tomorrow I'm gonna be sitting right next to you in every single class."

"Fine. Deal." She put out her hand, another thing Mike taught her. Nothing was agreed upon until there was a shake. He shook her hand and as soon as their shake was done, she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled slightly as she hurried out of the car, he watched her walk out, and still insanely worried for what was going to happen to her while he wasn't with her. It was like his chest was squeezing in. "This girl is gonna kill me." He mumbled to himself, watching her walk off until she was completely out of his sight.

* * *

April walked into the lecture hall, looking all around. She knew this college was big, but she just wasn't really thinking about how big the classes were. Almost every spot was taken being there only being five minutes until the class started. As she looked around, everyone was on their phones, not even paying attention. She saw that as a blessing and a disadvantage. She took an empty seat crammed between a jock and a girl with a purple beanie on with headphones in. It was one of the last rows, and April knew she was going to need her glasses to be able to see the board.

She began to rummage through her bag, looking for her glasses and once she pulled them out, she realized something very dire. She had no amount of journal or paper to take notes on. She stiffened, wondering how the hell this was going to play out. She straightened up from looking in her bag, taking a few deep breaths. How could she be so stupid? "You okay?"

She quickly turned to her right, finding it was the girl with the beanie turned toward her. When she spoke, her voice had a kind of smoky tone to it. Her thin hair fell in curls, just barely going past her shoulders. Her almond colored eyes were hiding behind wire frames, and despite it being summer, she was dressed in mostly black. "Um," April spoke, not sure how to approach this. "I forgot my notebook."

She looked at her empty desk for a moment before going through her bag and pulling out some loose paper. "Here you go."

April gave her a confused look, not understanding why she was so nice. "Thanks." She spoke it almost cautiously, making the girl turn her head to the side a little bit.

She wouldn't know that April was so self-conscious about who she was as the president's daughter. "You're welcome." She was actually kind of confused at her tone, but she decided not to let it bother her.

The professor suddenly walked into the lecture hall, everyone getting ready to take notes when April realized something else. The girl noticed that hopeless puppy look on her face again. "Don't tell me you forgot a pen too?" she whispered.

April turned to look at her, the girl rolling her eyes at her puppy face. "Here." She spoke handing over an extra pen. "I better get both back."

"Thank you." April whispered as sincere as she possibly could, the girl giving her an obvious wave like she was an idiot.

April took a deep sigh. She couldn't believe she had allowed herself to be that stupid. The instructor began to speak, April not being able to believe that she had come off as a complete idiot to the first classmate of hers she had met. Maybe she could make it up to herself in the lecture. She was following insanely well while the girl next to her was struggling. The girl looked over April's shoulder, studying her notes, finding sub notes that she had already knew about the topic. April turned to look at her once she felt her eyes, smiling slightly, knowing she had proved herself. "You're pretty good at this stuff." She whispered with a nod as April just shrugged. "Yeah," she spoke, tearing off a piece of paper and handing it to her. "I'm gonna need your name and number to survive this course."

April smiled while picking up the borrowed pen and writing down her number. This wasn't how she expected to make her first friend, but it was actually better than she pictured her first day to be. April did the same as the girl, tearing off a piece of her paper and handing it to her. "And I'm gonna need yours for a reminder to buy school supplies."

The girl laughed, and in just a few moments, they had exchanged slips of paper. "Nice to meet you, April." The girl spoke while sticking out her hand with a slightly goofy expression on her face.

April chuckled, taking her hand and shaking it. "You too, Megan."

* * *

April liked to busy herself around the house, finding it better than just sitting around and have the staff doing everything for her. She was currently peeling potatoes with their cook preparing their meal and Mike by her side, peeling potatoes with her. They had let silence pass over them, each of them finding themselves getting caught up in the activities they were doing, but April's phone kept buzzing. Mike gave her a look after the tenth time in a row as April put down the potato and knife while laughing at the phone. "Who's that?" Mike asked, nodding towards the phone.

"A friend." April spoke, putting the phone down after typing a response and going back to the potatoes.

"You've been attached to that phone the entire time you've being peeling." Monica, their chef spoke, peeking out from behind the pot. "Before Mike even joined you."

"Is that so?" Mike asked, now a playful look on his face.

"It's not a boy." April intercepted, knowing that was going to be Mike's first question. "I've sworn them off for a good while."

"Wait a minute," Mike spoke, putting down his potato and knife. "Is this the reason why you always ask me to meet you a building away when picking you up from class?"

She gave Mike a sly smile, letting him know he got it right. "Maybe."

"Wait a minute," Monica spoke, leaning on the table they were at so she could look at April more closely. "Does this friend even _know_ you're the president's daughter?"

April's eyes darted back and forth between the two, both of them gasping when they realized April's best friend didn't know who her father was. "April." They both scolded in unison.

"It's never come up before." April defended. She looked down at her potato, not wanting to look either of them in the eye. "I wanted to get close with people before revealing the fact that I'm the president's daughter." She shrugged, looking back to Mike. "Remember how well it went when William knew I was the president's daughter right off the back."

Mike let out a scoff and shook his head. "Yeah, I'd like to see that little twerp now." He finally looked back to April. "I hope he still has that black eye you gave him."

"Mike," April spoke calmly, finding the biggest flaw in his wishful thinking. "That was like two months ago. I'm pretty sure the bruise healed."

"Well, I hope it didn't." He whispered, barely loud enough for April to hear.

April opened her mouth, about to continue arguing with him, but Monica knew she had to stop the two now or they would be here all night. "I understand why you're waiting to tell her, but don't you think that if she hadn't backed out on you now, it's time to tell her?"

April sighed. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. She didn't want Megan to go running for the hills once she found out who her family was and she didn't want Megan to take advantage of her and her family, but she also knew both Monica and Mike were right. April picked up her phone, quickly typing up a message. "Megan wanted to meet for a study session tomorrow, we could change it to here."

Mike was almost giddy as she typed up the message, causing her to give him a slightly confused/annoyed look. Mike then looked to Monica, giving her a playful smile. "I never get to meet April's friends."

"Because you'll give them a pat down the second they get two inches to me."

Monica nodded, backing up April's comment, knowing Mike even before April had. "She's right."

"Sorry for protecting you at all costs." Mike spoke sarcastically.

April threw her potato back down, turning to look at Mike. "There is a line between protection and over bearing."

Monica sighed while looking back and forth. "Tell me where that line is then." Mike challenged.

Monica knew, this was going to continue for the entire preparation of dinner. "The point where you give a cavity search to my friends!" And the turkey still had another hour in the oven.

"I haven't even done it yet, you just assume I'm gonna do it!" It was going to be a long hour.

* * *

Megan had been circling for a while now, the security detail was probably getting worried of her presence. She had finally pulled over and picked up her phone, calling April automatically. It rang twice before she picked it up. "Hello?" April questioned.

"Okay, the only house I can see close to the address you sent me is the White House. If this is a prank, very funny, but where is your legit address?"

There was a knock on her car window, sending Megan at least a foot in the air in shock. "What the hell, April?" She yelled once she saw who was at the window. She threw her door open, turning to look at her. "You scared the hell out of me!" That's when she noticed a guy with dark hair standing close by her. "Who's this?"

April turned slightly to look at Mike, waving a hand at him. "Oh, that's just Mike."

"'Just'?" he repeated, slightly offended.

"Oh, calm down." She told him with an eye roll before turning back to Megan.

"Um," Megan spoke with a shrug. "So, he's like your boyfriend or something?"

April let out a loud chuckle, Mike giving her another offended look. "No, bodyguard if we want to get technical."

"What?" Megan questioned, completely confused with how this study session was playing out.

"It will all get really clear really soon. I promise."

Megan looked at her friend, Mike and then her car. She was wondering if she should make a break for it, but April had become a pretty close friend. At the least she could give her a chance. "Okay?"

April smiled, reaching out for her hand which Megan reluctantly took. April followed Mike, taking them to the front gate of the White House. Mike immediately went to the front gate, getting Megan's visitor pass as she turned to look back at April. "Are we studying at the White House now? Can you do that?"

April bit her lip slightly when Mike came back with a lanyard for her. "Megan Goodnight," he looked at her for a moment before giving her a confused glance. "Is that your real name?"

"You want to see my birth certificate?" She asked in a tired voice. Megan got that a lot. Like at least on a daily basis.

"Okay," Mike spoke, moving to put the lanyard on her. "Megan Goodnight, you are granted with an all access pass."

"Sweet." Megan commented as she looked down at the lanyard.

"Let's go." April called, pulling her forward and into the physical White House.

"So," Megan began as she walked through the front door with Mike leading the way, thinking of all the possibilities on why April would take her to the White House. "Is your dad like the chef or something like on _Corey in the House_ or…"

Megan trailed off when she saw the President of the United States walking down the stairs, speaking into his cell phone. "I'll get with you tomorrow." He spoke into the phone.

Megan was completely stunned as April showed up in her ear. "Our chef's name is actually Monica. That's my dad."

Megan turned to her with wide eyes before remembering she had a mustard stain on her shirt she immediately tried to wipe out. She thought this was going to just be a lazy study session at April's house. She didn't realize she was meeting President Benjamin Asher.

Ben moved to the two girls while Mike stood close by. "Hey, pumpkin." Ben spoke while pulling April in to kiss the top of her head. Then Ben turned to the other girl, black hair tied up in a messy bun and contacts instead of her wire glasses. She wore one of her old high school T-shirts, yoga pants and Nike's, compared to Ben's suit and tie. "And you must be the Megan I've been hearing so much of."

Ben put his hand out to shake Megan's and she just looked at it. "Whoa, bro." She spoke almost under her breath before taking his hand and shaking it. Now she knew where April got her people skills from. Every time the girl met someone new, she sounded like she was running for a position in office. "I voted for you by the way." She spoke quickly while shaking his hand.

Ben laughed as April put her face in her own palm. "Glad to hear that." Mike put a hand on April's shoulder, massaging it lightly as she leaned into it. "April has told me so much about you."

Megan then looked at April, giving her a kind of angry stare she shrugged to. "Really because she's told me hardly anything about you."

April gave her another playful shrug that Megan just gave her an angry smile. "Let me properly introduce you to Mike." Ben spoke, moving to his secret service agent just as Mike took his hand off of April's shoulder. "Because I know my daughter didn't."

April gave him a little shrug, but Ben knew his daughter, and he knew Megan didn't know who her father was until he came down these steps. "Mike here is in charge of April's security detail, so if you need anything while you're here, just ask Mike and he'll help you out."

Megan gave him a shy smile, now really regretting mistaking him for April's boyfriend, but not totally regretting it. There was something there. She just hadn't figured it out yet. She wasn't even sure if April had figured it out yet.

"I've got a few more things to take care of," Ben told the group, looking back to his cell phone before turning back to Megan. "But can I expect you at dinner?"

"How could I refuse a gourmet meal?"

"We're actually just having pizza tonight." April spoke with a guilty look on her face.

Megan looked down at that, taking a deep sigh. "Well, that's disappointing."

April looked up to her father with a smile. "She's staying for dinner."

Ben gave them each a smile before hurrying up the stairs to go back into his office. Megan continued to stand there, processing everything that had just happened. "Why don't we go to my room?" April suggested.

"I need a drink." Megan muttered as April dragged her up to stairs and into her room.

Mike followed them, April giving him an annoyed face as he gave her that stupid know-it-all smile. "Told you that you should have told her earlier."

"You didn't even know until yesterday." She spoke in a hushed whisper before slamming the door in his face as Mike stood there for a moment, realizing she was right.

April turned to her friend who was slowly freaking out just looking at the room. "What the hell, April?!" Megan finally asked, turning around to look at her. "I'm in the White House right now. Like deep in the White House. Stuff that isn't even in the tours, and I should know since I've lived here my whole life and I've been going on those since elementary school!"

"Look," April spoke, nervously playing with her hands. "I know you're freaking out – "

"Understatement!" Megan screamed out, still walking around the room like she had no idea what she was doing or where she was going.

"Okay, you're probably livid, but I have a good reason for keeping it from you."

"Oh," Megan spoke, sitting down on her bed, looking at her like this was the most interesting piece of information she had ever heard. "Do tell."

April stood there for a moment, trying to find out where to start. "My dad was the governor of Pennsylvania before he was president, and even then, people would want to be friends with me just to see what my house looked like or the perks of being in the news or all the luxurious things I had."

Megan's face softened a little bit, seeing where her friend was going with all of this. "And you thought it would be even worse when your dad became the president."

April let out a sigh of relief. She expected Megan to act more drastically to the news, but she was so understanding. "Yes."

Megan gave her a slight smile with a shrug as she began to look around again. "I get it." She turned back to her friend, the smile growing just a little bit. "I mean, I don't want to get it because my best friend lied to me, but…I get it."

April gave her a big smile, her shoulders caving in just a little bit. "'Best friend'?"

"Oh god." Megan spoke, shutting her eyes, knowing how April was with feelings. April was completely giddy, hurrying to her side at the bed. "I shouldn't have said anything."

April wrapped her in a hug which Megan wasn't going to protest. She hugged her back as tight as she could because she meant what she said, those two hadn't known each other long, but they were best friends. Megan looked to her, breaking out of the hug slightly. "Although, I don't think your dad likes me."

April gave her a confused look, wondering where she got that from. "Why?"

"Because he talked to me like a politician." She spoke obviously.

"Megan," April practically laughed out, looking to her best friend. "He _is_ a politician."

She looked down slightly, thinking about it. "Oh yeah." April laughed, pulling her back into a hug which Megan enjoyed, but she was going to act like she hated.

When they finally pulled away, Megan looked back to the door, moving closer on the bed to April. "So what's with you and that Mike guy?"

"What do you mean?" April chuckled.

"Oh, come on, you like him."

"Mike?!" April exclaimed with a laugh resting in her throat. "No, he's just a friend."

Megan looked her friend up and down, not totally believing her. "Okay." April opened her mouth, about to say more, catching on that tone Megan used, but Megan was pulling out her school books. "Are we actually going to get to studying because I don't know about you, but I want to get into the nursing program?"

April pulled out her notes as Megan cracked open her book. Megan immediately began talking about anatomy, but April was only half listening. This was the second time in the last few months that someone had suggested April having a thing for Mike and it was two people who were very close to her. While putting her pen to her lips, she began to think. Was it possibly that she did have a thing for Mike, but she just hadn't realized it?

 _ **: Hehehe the punch was my favorite part to write**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: Thanks love and can't wait to give you more!**_

 _ **THO12120445, Guest and NGArmyWife, thanks for the positive feedback and I will write as fast as my little fingers will take me!**_

 _ **I have once again taken forever to update, but I hope I made it up to you guys since this is the longest chapter I've written for this story! I am officially done with school, though, so that means this summer will be focusing on working and writing. Whoo! I hope you guys liked this chapter and Happy Mother's Day to the mothers out there and I hope you all had a fantastic day!**_


	7. You Are In Love Part I

April felt herself falling asleep at her book. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. It was midnight and here she was in the campus library with Megan, slaving over their anatomy text books. Megan took a huge gulp of coffee before looking to April's fluttering eyes. "Oh, no." April's eyes opened widely, obviously catching herself going to sleep, and half afraid of what Megan would do to her if she actually did fall asleep. "You are not sleeping and leaving me to be alone with all of this."

"Megan," April yawned out. "Don't you think we should call it a night? We still have all of tomorrow to study."

"No." Megan spoke obviously. "I have a system of studying like an insane person two days before the test, sleeping the whole day before the test to wake up refreshed while all I did was dream of the information I studied to pass the test."

April shook her head after listening to that entire speech. "You've got issues, dude."

"Sleep is for the weak." She told her seriously before looking back down at her book.

"Okay." April spoke, putting her book back in her bag. "While you do that, I'm going to be sleeping."

Megan didn't even look up to see April off. "Have fun struggling during that test then."

"Goodnight, Megan!" April called with a bit of a wave as she made it out of the library doors. When she got out the door, there was Roma, patiently waiting for her to leave the library. "Sorry." She apologized as he put his hand on her back, guiding her to the car.

"No worries." He promised as he opened up the car door for her with a big smile.

As April sat in the back seat, her phone vibrated, she expected it to be Megan, gloating to her about how she was going to pass the test while she failed, but it was Mike.

 _How's the studying going :)_

April rolled her eyes, a smile spreading across her face. How did she just know he was going to mess with her about this?

 _FINALLY going home._

She put the phone back down, letting her head fall into the cushion, it just felt so comfortable at the moment. She almost felt herself drift off to sleep, but her phone vibrated again, causing her to pull it up to her face.

 _Hurry up and get your ass to bed because we're studying all day tomorrow_

April sighed, hating that she would have to spend the entire day studying just for one test, but she wasn't one to disagree with Mike.

 _Ye_ s, _sir!_

And before she knew it, she was back home, immediately getting out of the car and falling asleep almost the second her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Mike stood at April's door, crouched down so he could look Conner right in the eye. Conner had on every bit of protection he could find. A hockey mask, catcher mitts, he even duct taped pillows onto his front and back. "Okay, you know what your job is?"

"Bother April until she wakes up."

"Good boy." Mike agreed with a high five before Conner opened the door to April's room cautiously.

They were both nervous. Messing with April while she was sleeping was like messing with a sleeping bear, they were just asking for trouble. But April had to pass this test. They knew they were doing the right thing, but once they woke April up, they knew it wouldn't feel like it.

Conner brought up his hockey stick, slowly moving it to her sleeping body, taking a deep breath before gently poking her with it, keeping a safe distance. He heard her breathe deeply before rolling over to the other side of the bed. Conner gave Mike a panicked look, but he just signaled for him to keep on. Conner gave a deep sigh before trying again. When he poked her this time, her hand came out, knocking the stick out of his hand.

Mike sighed as Conner looked to his only weapon lying on the other side of the room. That's when Mike moved forward, stripping all of the covers off the bed, holding onto them so she couldn't pull them back over her head.

"What the hell?!" She screamed out, throwing her hands on the bed angrily as she rolled over to lie on her back.

"Get up." Mike spoke, turning to Conner with a happy smile. "Get out of here before she kills you."

Conner didn't wait another moment, running out before his sister could do anything to him. "Why am I up?" April asked, turning into the fetal position, trying to cuddle herself for warmth since she no longer had access to her comforter.

"Because you have the biggest test of your college career tomorrow." Mike spoke as he moved to her closet, pulling out some clothes for her. "Put these on." He spoke throwing some clothes on her bed.

She finally sat up, looking at the clothes for a moment before looking up at Mike with a disgusted face. "Really? That top with those shorts?"

He gave her an irritated look before grabbing the clothes with a sigh and moving to her bathroom. "This is stupid." She mumbled before slamming her door shut.

"You're stupid for not taking Megan's study advice."

April cracked the door open to pop her head out, her bra straps the only visual that she had some type of clothing on. "You wanted me to stay up all night and sleep all day?"

"If it was going to get you to pass that test, I do."

April rolled her eyes with a loud scoff before ducking back into the bathroom and closing the door. "See, that's the problem with schools today." She spoke as she pulled on her shirt and Mike leaned against the wall in her room. "It's not even about learning, it's about grades."

"You're damn right it is." Mike spoke just as she opened out the door fully clothed.

She walked past him with a confused look on her face. "Was it like that in Ireland or Scotland or wherever you're from?"

"And _I_ don't listen." He spoke with an eye roll.

April turned to look at him with a smile on her face. "You were born in Scotland, but you also say that you are part Irish, so…" she got closer to him, wanting to get in his face. "Ireland or Scotland…wherever you're from."

Mike looked down at her, smiling just a little bit. She really was a fantastic listener and it seemed like she knew everything. Well, everything except college level anatomy. "Let's get you to learning that anatomy."

"What do you know about anatomy?" April asked while crossing her arms.

He smiled, moving down to get the book off of her dresser. "As long as I can read everything that this book has to say about it, you can learn it."

* * *

April groaned into the book that she laid her head on in the dining room table. "Come on." Mike spoke, lounged in his chair while stuffing Cheetos in his mouth. "How do eccrine sweat glands differ from sebaceous glands?"

April finally picked up her head from the book, shaking her head at him. "Do you even know?"

He shook his head at her. "Not a damn clue, now answer the question."

"No." April told him defiantly making Mike raise his eyebrows at her tone. "You know what, I don't want to." She slammed her notebook shut, crossing her arms at him. "I'm dropping out."

"You're not dropping out." Mike retorted with a scoff, finding it hard to believe that he had pushed her that far.

"Oh, I am."

She got up from the table and moved out of the dining room as Mike just sat there, dumbfounded at everything that just happened. "Like hell you're not."

He moved into the kitchen where she had gone, catching her going out of the other door. "She just came in here and said she was dropping out." Monica told him as he just kept following her.

"Yeah, I'm working on it."

He closed the door to the kitchen, moving into the foyer where he saw Conner standing there, watching April walk up the steps. Mike just barely saw the heel of her foot. "Is April dropping out?" Conner asked.

"Maybe." Mike spoke quickly, not looking at him, only focused on catching up with April. "I mean no." Mike corrected, finally looking back to him. "Conner, go to your room." Conner shrugged and hurried off, leaving them to figure it all out.

When Mike came up the stairs, April was hurrying past the Oval Office her father was standing outside of. "Did April just say she was dropping out?" Ben asked as Mike hurried past him.

"She might, Ben!" He yelled at him out of stress, half turned back to tell him, but more focused on catching up with her.

As soon as he did catch up with her, though, she was slamming the door to her room shut. Mike moved to the door knob, but after twisting it a little bit, it wouldn't open. He pounded on the door a couple of times before calling out her name. "What do you want from me?" Mike asked.

April pulled the door to her room open angrily, eyes fuming. "I want you to let me study how I study. This whole forcing me crap is not going to work. I was not in the military, so do not treat me like I am."

Mike gulped a little. The way she was talking to him freaked him out so he was going to do whatever she wanted him to do in that moment. Hell, she wasn't even using contractions. "Okay." He spoke immediately without argument. If she was in the military, that would be one sight to see. They would command her to do something and she would put the fear of god into whoever did it.

"And even if it is your specialty, I don't need you to control everything. Just let me be in charge for one night and then you can do whatever you want."

Mike stood there for a moment. It would be really hard not to be in charge for once, but he was going to do it for April. If it meant she was going to pass her class, he was going to do it for her. "Okay." Mike sighed out while massaging his forehead.

April leaned forward, giving him a kiss on the cheek before pulling him into her room for the two to study the night away.

* * *

So, they did study for the entire night. When they finally fell asleep, Mike's arm was wrapped around April's shoulders and April was nuzzled into his chest with her hand lying over his heart. He was supposed to go home. He wasn't supposed to be there all night with April, but he did it for her because he knew this test was big to her. He could have gone home to be with his wife, but he stayed with her, and he wasn't going to leave until the moment she was confident she would pass that test, but they ended up falling asleep.

April just stared at him after she woke up. She loved watching his chest rise and fall, and how soft all of his features were rather than seeing the years of damage in every inch. She loved the fact that he looked completely at peace in that moment, but she knew that in less than an hour, he would be up, driving her crazy like every other day. She wondered what he was dreaming about. If he ever thought about her how she was now thinking about him.

Everything William and Megan had talked about all suddenly clicked. This attraction everyone was seeing. She didn't know about Mike, but she knew she had feelings for him. Watching him like that, leaving her alone with her thoughts, she knew William was right. She was _in_ love with Mike. The realization happened so quick, there was no time to talk herself out of it or to see the logic not to be in love with him. It was an insane realization to suddenly feel like this. With everything she did, that love was going to be with her every step of the way whether he reciprocated it or not.

Mike stirred a little bit, causing a small smile to spread on her face. That's when she leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on his cheek right next to his lips. He seemed to settle after that, making her smile even more. She didn't want to go. She wanted to stay in his embrace forever, but everything they did here would have been for nothing. She would do her all on that test just to make him proud, to show him that what they did had made a difference.

She slowly moved out of his arms, making sure not to wake him before turning into her closet. God, she couldn't even focus on what to wear, all she could think about was Mike. As she got dressed, she kept looking at him. His suit was wrinkled from sleeping in it and his tie was at the foot of her bed. She remembered him taking it off right before they had fell asleep. His shoes were off in the corner by her window, making her smile, thinking about how he acted before he took them off. He said how scandalous it would be if the reporters caught sight of him taking his shoes off and getting on the president's daughter's bed.

When she was finally dressed, she ripped a piece of paper from her journal and pulled out a pen, scribbling: _I think you've earned the day, Banning. Thanks, April._

She gave him one last look as she put the note on her pillow. She had no doubt about loving him. She knew she shouldn't have. He worked for her father and he was married, but she did. He shouldn't feel the way she did about him and she didn't expect him to, that's what hurt her the most about all of this, but she didn't want to think about that just yet. She wanted to have this moment burned into her brain forever, and it always would be as the moment she fell in love with Mike Banning.

* * *

After the test, April had to leave without saying a word to Megan when that's all she wanted to do. She knew her phone was off so she decided she would leave her a message. As soon as she dialed her number, it went straight to voicemail, confirming her thoughts. _Hey, this is Megan. You know what to do._

April was thinking about it all over again so by the time the beep sounded, she let out a loving sigh. "Megan, I really need to talk to you. Something…happened last night and you're the only one I can tell." She took a moment, thinking about it all over again as a huge smile spread across her face. "Just give me a call when you get this."

April hung up the phone and continued walking. It was something completely different being in love like this. As she walked through campus, it was like she was seeing everything in a new light. The sun was brighter, the trees were fuller, and she saw happiness on everyone's faces.

When she finally made it into the back seat of her limo, O'Neil knew there was something up. There was something up with her from the moment she had walked out of her room in the morning. He didn't know what it was, but all of the secret service agents had a pool going on of what it could possibly be.

When they finally got back to the White House, O'Neil opened the door up for her, April was still off in her own world, but one thing brought her back. The first thing she saw was Mike standing in the foyer in a fresh suit, hands clasped in front of him with a smirk on his face at the sight of her. Her breath hitched in her throat as she looked at him, not sure what to do at all. "Welcome home, Miss. Asher."

April settled on a smile as she moved past him and up the stairs. "Thanks, Mike."

As she walked up the stairs, she was freaking out with every fiber of her being. How was she supposed to act around him now? She needed Megan to answer her phone immediately. She needed advice and Megan was way more experienced in this love stuff than she was. She thought she was in love a few times, but after what she felt today, she realized that everything else was minimal to what she felt now.

Once she was safe in her room, she leaned against her door, looking at her phone desperately. "Megan, please listen to your messages."

* * *

Megan parked her car drastically, greeted the man at the front desk, explaining that this was an emergency and she needed to see April immediately so he just gave her pass and let her in, he already knew who she was anyways. She ran into the front door, quickly greeting Mike and hurrying up the steps. "Hi, Megan." Ben spoke with a smile as she hurried past him.

"Hey, Mr. Asher." She called over her shoulder. "Can't talk right now."

Ben watched as she hurried into his daughter's room and shut the door. He shook his head as Maggie came up right next to him. "What was that about?"

"I don't know." Ben spoke, looking over at his wife. "But Megan needs to be timed next time she runs up to April's room like that. I want to know how long it really takes her." Maggie rolled her eyes at her husband before giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

Megan looked to April once she shut the door, finding April sitting on the floor right by her bed, taking deep breaths while chewing on her nail. "Oh my god." Megan simply spoke.

"I know." April spoke, half moving her thumb nail so her voice was more audible, but it was still in her mouth.

Megan moved to sit down across from her, putting her hands on her head, the text April sent burned into her eyes. "Oh my god." She spoke slower.

"I know." April almost cried out.

Megan straightened up as April pulled down a pillow from her bed, gripping it to her chest. "Okay," Megan spoke calmly. "We've got to think about this rationally." She looked to her, clutching her pillow, knowing poor April had it bad. "Have you told him?" April looked to her best friend like she was insane. "Okay, I'll take that as a no."

April shut her eyes while shaking her head. "How could I?"

Megan sighed, this time when she got down, sitting right next to her. "Would it really be so bad to tell him?"

April turned to look at Megan, starting to feel the downside of love people were talking about. She was feeling heartache. "He has a wife, Megan. He works for my dad." April positioned herself so she was facing her best friend. "Mike can never know about this."

Megan put her hand on April's arm, staring right into her eyes. "But what about you?"

April bit her lip to keep from crying as she shrugged, not wanting to say anymore. Megan immediately pulled her in for a hug, letting her cry all she could on her. Megan looked all around her room, hardly believing that it all happened in this room. A part of April's life just changed today, and as quick as it all started, it was ending.

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: I plan on making Megan a true friend so we don't have anything to worry about there. Oh, and the first blank response from the last chapter was your response. I don't know why your name didn't show up. It just didn't save like that. Sorry!**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: Thank you, love!**_

 _ **So, this is going to be part one in the story line of April realizing she's in love with Mike. I'm trying to capture all the good and bad that comes with falling in love with people you shouldn't, so I hope you guys liked this chapter, and let me know what you think!**_


	8. You Are In Love Part II

_**July**_

April looked at the two different dresses hanging up in her closet, trying to decide which dress matched her better. "I pick the pink one." Megan spoke, lounged on her bed.

"You know how I feel about pink." She spoke, looking to her best friend in the mirror.

"Okay," Megan spoke looking around at the room. "Your entire room is pink."

"Yeah," Mike spoke, walking into the room. "She didn't pick it."

April immediately shut her closet doors, not wanting him to see her dress options before turning around. It had been super awkward since she had realized her true feelings for Mike. She didn't want to see him or talk to him because every time she did, she remembered how ridiculously in love with him she was and when she thought about how it could never happen, it was like cupid himself gave her a blow to the gut. Megan sat up, looking back and forth from the two, wondering how this was going to play out.

Mike didn't know what to think about any of this. It all happened so fast. One day she was normal, happy April, but now she was just…different. He missed his best friend. "Umm," Mike put his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it self-consciously. "Dinner will be ready in an hour."

"Cool." Mike didn't know why she was being so short, but he wasn't going to question it. Megan continued to look back and forth between the two. "Thanks." Mike gave her a slight smile, and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

"Dude!" Megan exclaimed. "The sad thing is that wasn't even the most awkward encounter you two have had this week."

April groaned, throwing herself down on the bed with her face in her hands. "I know!"

Megan sat up as April rolled onto her stomach, letting out desperate whines. "You need to tell him."

April sat up immediately, almost hitting Megan in the lip with her head. "Yeah, ruining his entire career and marriage in the process." She threw herself back down on the bed after her sarcastic remark, whining again.

"Well," Megan spoke, not really knowing what to say to her in that moment. That's when something clicked. "Okay, what if there was a way to for you to, in a way, get Mike out of your system?"

April sat up, looking at her best friend with a confused glance. "How?"

Megan sighed, giving her a bit of a shrug, the idea still just swimming in her head. "I'm not saying you're gonna fall out of love with him, but if you sleep with someone else, maybe it will settle the feelings just a little bit."

April propped her head up on her elbow, looking up at Megan in the eye. "So, you want me to have meaningless sex?"

"I mean," Megan spoke, getting closer to her, not wanting to talk too loud in fear that anyone else would hear. "It might balance it out." She shrugged, not sure if she was pushing April in the best direction, but she just didn't want her to hurt anymore. "It'll take out the awkwardness."

April bit her lip, mulling the idea over. It would kind of make sense. She looked Megan in the eye, wondering when she expected for her to get this done. "When?"

"Tomorrow."

"At the Independence Day Ball?" April almost chuckled out.

"When are you going to meet tipsy people willing to sleep with the President's daughter anytime soon?"

April looked at her blankly for a few seconds. "You do realize we're in college, right?"

"Do you want it to happen fast or not?"

She let out a deep sigh, knowing that she was right. The quicker they got over this awkwardness, the faster she could move on with her life. "Fine. I'll do it tomorrow."

* * *

Mike fixed his bow tie in front of the mirror, looking over his suit again. No matter how many times he ran the security procedures or exits through his head, his mind kept going back to one thing. April and how weird she had been acting this past week. He was hoping it was just the nerves of her first Independence Day Ball going perfectly and then after that, she would go back to normal.

"Hey," Leah spoke, appearing right behind him with an American flag shirt and white shorts. "You should get going."

She was wondering what was going on with Mike. Ever since April started acting up, he did. "Yeah." He sighed, hating how his tie was ending up, but was just tired of fixing it. Leah was worried about him, but she didn't want to ask him about it either. "Don't wait up." He spoke simply as he walked out of their bedroom.

"Be careful." She settled on.

Mike heard her, but he just didn't have the energy to respond. So, for the first time, he left the house without telling her he loved her. That didn't really register to him, though. The only thing that was running through his mind was April. Was she okay? Would she get back to normal ever again? He didn't know, but he knew that seeing her happy and smiling today would be the best part of it.

* * *

April looked over her dress one more time, wondering if she really did make the right decision. This was her first Independence Day Ball. She wanted it to be a success. She also thought back to what she had to do tonight. If she was going to be able to continue her friendship with Mike, she was going to have to do this. She didn't want to, but she knew she needed to.

There was a knock on her door, but she just kept looking at herself. She wasn't proud and because of that, she found herself almost disgusting. "Come in." She called, her voice obviously weak.

Her mother opened the door, peaking her head in, her mouth dropping when she got a full view of her daughter. "Look at you." She commented, moving towards her daughter, April looking up at her amazing mother in the mirror. "Every guy is going to want a piece of you." Maggie's hands went on her daughter's shoulders as April let out a light chuckle. "And your father is going to hate that."

April smiled to her, but she just went to thinking about Mike again. She looked to her mother, hoping that she could talk to her about the topic without really telling her what was going on. "Mom," she spoke slowly. Maggie looked to her, hoping this would be the moment that she would finally tell her what was going on. "Do you remember the moment when you fell in love with Dad?"

She chuckled a little bit, while looking up in memory. "Your father and I were in college and we had just ordered a pizza."

April's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "You fell in love with him over a pizza."

Maggie lightly tugged on her daughter's hair to get her to look up. "I'm not done yet." April looked back to the mirror, watching her mother's face as she thought back on the moment. "They forgot the ranch, which you know I can't have pizza without."

"Obviously." April spoke with a shrug, inheriting that habit from her mother.

"I told him it was no big deal and we went to go watch a movie, but your father disappeared a little bit into the movie."

April shrugged, looking at her mother. "Where'd he go?"

Maggie looked to her daughter, hoping that one day she would be able to find a guy as great as her dad. "He walked through the stinging snow to the pizza place to get me ranch."

April's mouth dropped a little, looking at her mother's face. Maggie nodded, sharing her impressment. "Go Dad." April commented.

Maggie nodded a little more. "And that's when I knew that if he was willing to go out into practically a blizzard for me, I had found the right guy."

April thought back onto her realization, remembering how amazing it felt, but she thought back on the panic as well. "You weren't scared that he didn't love you back? Or maybe something would happen and you two _couldn't_ be together?"

Maggie looked to her daughter, not getting a confirmation, but she somehow knew exactly who she was talking about. "Honey, if you're meant to be with someone, no matter how long it takes, you're going to end up with that person."

April looked at herself, completely rethinking her plan for the night. How could she sleep with someone when she was in love with Mike? She hated feeling like this, though. She wanted that feeling gone.

"Now," Maggie spoke, clapping her daughter on the shoulders. "Let's get down to the party." She smiled at her mother, but honestly April had never been more confused.

* * *

Mike was standing towards the back of the lawn, keeping an eye on everything around. The hedges were cut high enough so no paparazzi could get pictures of the party while lanterns scattered the floor and strands of lightbulbs were hanging from the nearby trees. Everyone around was dressed in a sea of elegant red, white and blue except the Secret Service men. Even Lynne Jacobs was dressed up in a little red dress.

Mike gave Lynne a polite nod as she walked past him, but when his eyes went back to the front, he saw April walk into the party. His mouth practically dropped. She was wearing a blue, backless halter dress with a long red bow at her waist. Her hair was up in a loose, but well done bun while diamonds decorated her neck and ears. Her face was made up to perfection, finishing it off with a bright red lipstick.

She seemed to turn all the heads when she walked in, but Mike felt like he had been looking in that direction before everyone else had found it. She walked down the first few steps, showing her white, strappy heels causing Mike to smile just a little bit. He was finding it hard to believe that she had found her bearings in those things.

April was looking around, trying to measure all the people who had showed up, but mostly to find out how she was going to entertain herself through this whole thing. That's when she saw Mike looking at her, and for the first time since she had found out her true feelings, she didn't look away or try to run off to avoid the awkwardness, she was filled with happiness. A big smile spread across her face. When she looked at him, she felt like she had her best friend again. In that moment, she didn't care if her and Mike could never be together, but as long as she had him by her side through it all, it was just as good as having him as her lover.

She snuck away from all the people surrounding her, weaved her way through the crowds and ending up hurrying to stand right next to Mike. "You couldn't have helped me escape?" She asked, standing to his right, trying to blend in next to him as best as she could. "I was dying over there." When Mike looked at her, he saw someone completely different. Someone a little more than a best friend.

* * *

The party dragged on, April finding it all mind numbingly boring. At the moment, her mother was showing her off to some of the more important members of Congress. "April has always been a marvelous singer." April smiled just a little bit, completely annoyed with all these people she was meeting. "April," she spoke, bringing April back into the conversation. "Why don't you audition for the school choir?"

"I don't know why I don't audition for the school choir." April spoke in a bland voice.

Her mother gave her an irritated stare before going back to talking to the senator. She looked around, measuring the look on everyone's faces. Everyone looked so bored. To be honest, this wasn't how she expected the ball to go. She thought it was going to be fun, but then again, this entire presidency wasn't exactly what she thought it was going to be. Especially the music.

Her eyes widened at the wrong key the violin was playing for the twelfth time. She was keeping track and it was exasperating. That's when she got an idea. She looked to the conversation that was going on with bright eyes. "If you guys will excuse me, I will be right back."

April didn't even wait for a response before hurrying off. She immediately hurried to Mike, but before she could ask him a question, she grabbed him by the hand, pulling him into the house. "I need your help." Was all she said before pulling him up the stairs and into her bedroom.

"April, what the hell are you doing?" Mike asked as she fished out her iPod and the speaker for it.

She looked to him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm livening up the party, what does it look like I'm doing?"

She hurried past him as Mike just watched her hurry off. "April," he spoke in a warning, whispered tone before hurrying off after her.

"Oh, come on, scaredy cat." She taunted, turning around to look at him before hurrying to the steps.

Mike smiled, rolling his eyes at her before following her down the steps. They went through a less conspicuous door into the garden, closer to the stage so they could set everything up. Once they were done, April scrolled through her iPod, found the perfect song, plugged it in and hurried away so no one would suspect it was them.

Shortly after, the music came blasting through the speakers, making her giddy. She looked around at the crowd that surrounded her, convincing them to get to the dance floor. "Come on," she encouraged while pulling her heels off. "Take off your shoes."

A lot of people around her followed along while others looked confused. As soon as the ones who followed her got on the dance floor, they were all laughing and obviously having fun. Conner pushed his way to get to his sister, dancing with her. April crouched down so he could twirl her and she twirled him, causing Ben and Maggie to smile. They all knew this was April's doing, and they didn't totally approve of her going behind everyone's backs to change the music, but just the song made the party exponentially better. Mostly because it wasn't off key.

As everyone saw them dancing, almost the entire party was on the dance floor. Senators all over were dancing like they were kids, even her parents were lost in each other dancing and the song wasn't even through the chorus yet. April looked around, feeling like something was missing. That's when she noticed Mike off to the side just watching everything.

She rolled her eyes at him, hurrying to his side and grabbing his hand. "Come on."

"No." He protested trying to pull against her.

"Oh my gosh, Mike," April scolded, getting into his face. "For once in your life, have fun just once."

Mike let out a flustered sigh which she just smiled to as she pulled him onto the dance floor with her. They were in the middle of the floor, April grabbing Mike's hands, swaying with him, trying to get him to loosen up just a little bit. Mike was laughing the entire time, making April think back to her feelings for Mike. This could work out. They could be friends while she was in love with him. It could really work out.

Once Mike had finally gotten looser without her guiding him, she let go of his hands, the two still dancing in almost perfect synch. April began twirling in front of him, making Mike smile. She just didn't know how bright she shined. She knew how important she was, it was hard not to when you were surrounded by body guards, but she just didn't know that she was the absolute light of Mike's life. This whole week was completely agonizing to him, it led him to think about what life would be without her.

That's when he pulled her to him, gliding across the entire dance floor with her. He twirled her around, even put in a few complicated dance steps, taking April by surprise. She was almost out of breath when his arm ended up around her shoulder and the two were side to side. "Where the hell did you learn how to dance?"

Mike shrugged, giving her that signature Mike Banning smile. "My mother enrolled in ballroom dance lessons."

April laughed, making him even happier in that moment if it was possible. He twirled her out of his arms, and as soon as he pulled her back in, they locked eyes and the music just seemed to fade into the background. They shared a millisecond of passion before fireworks exploded above their head. April looked up in wonderment as an array of red and blue showered over her head. Mike was also distracted by a sight, but it wasn't the fireworks. It was the way April was looking up at the fireworks. She had so much excitement and pureness on her face.

And that was the moment it hit Mike. He was in love with her. He was insanely and undoubtedly in love with her. There was no other explanation. What he was feeling all week, that was heartbreak and when he finally got her back, he was feeling love. But this, right here in this moment, this was the most euphoric feeling around. He knew why she was every thought surrounding his mind and why he was so attached to her from the moment she got there. This entire time, he was trying to piece it together, but it was right there in front of his eyes. He loved her.

Her eyes went from the fireworks, back to him, resulting in a big smile on her face, making Mike's heart melt just looking at her. She laughed a little, making him so happy he felt like he could cry. Why did it take him so long? They could have saved so much time. Did she even feel the same away about him that he did about her? It was a scary thought, but to be this close to her and to have that moment of her wonder filled face burned into his memory for the rest of his life, it was all worth it.

* * *

Mike slowly walked into his house, removing the blazer he was wearing and hanging it on the coat rack while working on getting his tie undone. As he was doing that act, his mind just wondered. Everything felt so different now. It was like he was woken from a dream and harshly thrown into reality.

It was scary and exciting, but he mostly didn't know how to handle any of it. He spent a moment just standing there after he had gotten his tie off, mulling it all over. He loved April and he didn't know what to do about it.

He shouldn't be spending as much time with her, but if they were apart, he didn't know what he would do with himself. He wouldn't be able to do his job and life would just be a useless empty space of crippling hurt. But he was married. Leah was waiting in their bed for him right now. He rubbed his hands to his face, his brain still processing this monumental revelation. Now that he thought of Leah and April side by side, there was no comparison. Leah had just become a routine. She had been for a while now. He didn't love her. Well, not like he loved April.

"Mike!" he heard from the bedroom. "Is that you?"

He took a very deep breath. How was he supposed to lie in bed next to her when he just found out he didn't love her like they both thought he did. "Yeah." He spoke, knowing he had to say something back. "I'll be in there in a sec."

He continued to stand there, knowing what he had to do. Tonight, he couldn't do anything, but tomorrow, he had to tell April. Talk to her. Find out if she felt the same way he did. Right now, he had to pretend everything was okay. Go to sleep. Be haunted by beautiful dreams of April.

* * *

Mike hurried down the hallway to April's bedroom door. One of the night agents was still there. The sun hadn't even come up yet, but Mike couldn't waste one minute. He had to talk to April. There was no way he could wait, mostly because he knew he would try to talk himself out of it.

He took a deep breath at her door, pacing in front of it, the agent standing there not wanting to listen, but couldn't help but overhear. "April," he whispered, rehearsing what he was going to say. "Last night was amazing and while we were close, I really wanted to keep that closeness…" He trailed off, shaking his head, hating how that sounded. With another deep breath and a turn, he started again. "April, last night when we were close, I realized I wanted more of that, and I think we should try having more of that."

Mike took another deep breath and settled his antsy feet before finally knocking on April's door. All these emotions were running through his mind and he felt like he couldn't breathe for a moment.

When April finally opened the door, she looked flushed…almost panicked, and just like that, he could breathe again. "Mike?" she questioned, out of breath. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you okay?" he asked immediately.

She had a big smile on her face, proceeding with a nod. That's when he noticed that she was holding her quilt that went at the bottom of her comforter to her body. "Yeah."

He got a smile on his face, almost mimicking hers. "Why are you so happy?"

She moved her head from side to side before opening her bedroom door all the way. Inside was a guy sound asleep in her bed. Mike's face completely dropped. He couldn't tell her. Not now. Not today. Not after this. April was just nineteen. He was in his late thirties and married. He was ready to walk in there and break off his marriage for her, but he suddenly couldn't. He couldn't tie her down like that. He wanted her to explore every inch of being young, and she couldn't do that with him.

"It's totally crazy." she spoke with the shake of the head as he nodded, trying not to show his heart was breaking at every word. "We just started talking last night after you left and we both just really needed to let off steam." She shook her head, thinking about last night all over again. Mostly, she was happy that the awkwardness between her and Mike had simply melted away. Megan really was right. "Will you help me sneak him out when he wakes up?"

Mike gulped while looking down. He had never felt this bad before. It was like someone had taken a sledge hammer and with all of their strength, threw it into his gut. "Yeah." he finally spoke as best as he could.

She turned her head to the side at his reaction. "Are you okay?"

He finally looked up at her, giving her a slight smile. That was all he could manage at the moment. "Yeah, just let me know what he wakes up."

Mike began to walk off, April watching him as he went. "Thank you." she called to him in her sweet voice, but Mike just kept walking. Usually, he would have something to say back to her, but he was too busy to think about how to help his aching heart.

With a confused face, April walked back into her room. When she thought back on his reactions, she perceived them all as sad. She had to talk to him later to see if he really was okay. April was sure, though, she had _never_ seen Mike like that.

 _ **MisfitCarter: Ugh, I know! You don't understand how good it felt to finally write that. Also how good it was to write Mike realizing it too in this chapter! Hope you enjoyed, love!**_

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: I agree, we could all use a Megan.**_

 _ **Bih Lupin, Guest: I honestly can't write the movie! I'm getting there as fast as I can. We should get to the accident in the next few chapters, so there's something. Thanks for reading!**_

 _ **Kagome409: Thanks for the review and the read, love!**_

 _ **I told you guys I would get these up a lot quicker! Nothing is going Mike and April's way these days. Hopefully that will change soon. The next chapter is going to experience a bit of a time jump, so just warning you guys before you read the next chapter and it's suddenly November. I hope you all enjoyed and I hope you guys don't hate me too much after this chapter, I promise you it will all be reprimanded in the next. Remember to review and thanks so much for reading!**_


	9. Everything New

_**November**_

April and Conner were leaned against the island in the kitchen, currently having a thumb war. "Conner, you've gotta attack from the side." Mike advised while leaning against the short end of the island.

"You can't give him advice." April spoke as she looked over to Mike while Conner began trying to come at her from the side.

"I do as I please." He retorted causing an over exaggerated eye roll from her.

Mike smiled, finding himself staring at her insanely concentrated face. It had been four months since Mike had found out his feelings for April, and he had been hiding it ever since. He convinced himself he was doing what was best for her, but every day, she did something to make him fall more in love. Just like her concentrated determination on winning this thumb war.

April was having a similar dilemma. She was as close as she usually is with Mike, but every little thing they did was hurting her. She knew she had to stay away from it and if they ever got together, it would be more hurt than it was worth, but she couldn't help but love him at every sarcastic comment and every caring word.

While April was thinking about all of this, Conner took that opportunity to take down April in the thumb war. "What the hell?" April spoke after he had her thumb down for three seconds.

Conner let go, throwing his hands in the air in a triumph. "I am the champion."

April rolled her eyes at him before moving to the fridge. "Whatever."

Almost immediately, Ben came into the kitchen, looking around frantically. "Where's April?" he asked the two.

April closed the fridge, raising her hand with a confused look on her face. "I'm an April."

"April," he spoke as he moved towards her. "How much do you love your grandmother?"

April turned her head to the side. "You know I love her. Is Grandmother okay?"

"Okay good," Ben spoke as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Because she's bunking with you tonight."

April stood there for a minute, realizing her father had tricked her. April turned around to see her father smiling next to Mike who had an even bigger smile on his face. "What the hell?" April whispered to herself. "We have like a million other rooms."

"Your grandmother misses you." He said with a shrug. "She wants to room with you."

April let out an exaggerated sigh while looking over to Conner. "Why can't she bunk with Conner?"

Ben moved forward, looking at his daughter. "She wants some girl bonding time." He explained as April looked over to Mike in hopes for help which he just shrugged to. "And she's your grandmother, you don't know how many years you have left with her."

"Ugh," she groaned, shaking her head at her father. "Don't pull that on me."

Ben gave her a smile before patting her on the arm. "Your grandmother is bunking with you for the night."

Once Ben walked out of the kitchen, April looking to Mike. "You gave him that idea, didn't you?"

Mike gave her a smirk and a shrug. "Maybe."

* * *

"So, you and Grams are bunking?" Megan asked through the phone.

"It looks like it." April spoke as she painted her nails, inspecting how the color looked in the light before deciding to paint the rest of her hand.

"Well," Megan spoke as she watched her cousins run around the couch she was sitting on. "At least it's better than being at my aunt's house with my five boy cousins."

"Ugh," April groaned as she continued to paint her nails. "Why did you have to go see your family for Thanksgiving?"

"I don't know." She spoke, finally getting up to get away from her loud cousins. "I would much rather be in DC with you meeting Grandmother." She tried to sound as fancy as she could when saying "Grandmother" knowing that was the only thing April called her.

April chuckled a little bit, but then she heard Megan's mom in the background. "Oh, is that April Asher? Tell her I said hi."

"Mom," Megan groaned.

"Hey, Mrs. Goodnight." April spoke into the phone.

"She said 'hey', Mom."

"She's such a sweet girl." April continued to laugh, hearing Megan's mom continue to talk about April to her sister. "Megan's best friends with the President's daughter."

"Okay," Megan spoke into the phone. "I'm leaving the room before the two get into a bragging battle." Once the door finally shut, Megan got closer to the phone. "So, what's going on with you and Mike?"

"Nothing." April spoke in an annoyed tone.

"Why not?" Megan asked slightly annoyed. "You tried the whole sleeping with someone else thing and you still had feelings for him the next day. If it was me, I would be all over that."

As this conversation was going on, O'Neil was passing by her room, but he couldn't help but hear April's voice carry out the door. "He's a secret service agent, Megan. He works for my dad and he's much older than me. It could never work out between us."

O'Neil straightened out a little bit, taking all that he heard in. April had a crush on one of the secret service agents. He looked around, knowing he had to tell the next agent he saw because they were going to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

"Oh, it's gotta be me." Forbes claimed while the whole group stood in the hallway, waiting on the Ben's mother's arrival.

"Why does it _have_ to be you?" Diaz questioned with a slight eye roll.

"Because I'm the hottest one out of all of you." Forbes spoke in an obvious tone. Roma rolled his eyes with a bit of a smile. "Oh, what?" Forbes pressed on. "You think it's you?"

"I most definitely do not think it's me." Roma spoke while laughing. He would never be able to think of April that way.

"She's hot." Forbes said with a shrug.

"Really, dude?" O'Neil asked.

"Oh, come on." Forbes spoke while hitting his arm. "You can't tell me April's not hot." No one made eye contact with Forbes after that statement. None of them around could think of April that way, that's what was making the crush so scandalous to them. "I'd do her." Forbes said with a shrug.

They all groaned and asked Forbes to stop as he just laughed. That's when Mike approached. "Hey," O'Neil spoke. "Maybe Mike knows. He's the one who spends the most time with her."

Mike looked to them all as they all turned to him with an interested look on their faces. "'Maybe Mike knows' what?"

Forbes leaned in, not wanting anyone else to pick up on their conversation. "Word has it that April's got a crush on one of the members of the Secret Service."

"Shut up." Mike laughed out.

"I'm serious." He told him with a shrug. "O'Neil heard her talking about it on the phone."

Secretly, Mike got giddy. He was hoping it was him. Maybe if the feeling was mutual, they would be able to do something about it. "So, let me guess," Mike spoke, looking around at the group. He just knew these guys too well. "You're all standing around here like idiots trying to find out who it is."

They were all quiet for a moment when Diaz spoke up. "Maybe it's Erikson." They all spoke in a chorus of agreements, able to see that pairing. Mike just rolled his eyes at them all, a smile coming at the corner of his mouth.

"What are you guys talking about?" They all got immediately quiet, fear in their eyes as they turned around to see April at the bottom of the stairs. She gave them all a strange look as they turned to her. "What's wrong with you guys?"

"Nothing." They all spoke in unison.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she took a turn looking at all of them individually. "Weirdos." She commented before hurrying past them to get into the kitchen.

All of the men looked at each other, knowing they had to get to the bottom of this. They wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. They all hurried off after her, catching her just as she stole a bit of cranberry sauce from Monica. The two girls looked at all the agents, wondering what the hell was going on. "What?" April finally asked, mouth half full. Mike thought it was extremely cute.

"Nothing." Roma spoke, initiating the accusations. "There's just a rumor going around."

"What rumor?" Monica questioned. She knew she was the first to hear about all the rumors in the White House, and she hadn't heard anything.

"That April has a crush on one of the secret service agents." Forbes spoke, winking after speaking.

April's eyes got wide like a deer in the headlights, not sure what to do. They knew. Mike knew. It wouldn't be too long until her dad knew. "So, come on, April," Mike spoke, giving her a little smile. April felt her heart pounding in her chest. They were gonna make her say it out loud in front of all of them. "Who is it?"

April had to blink a little bit after she heard what he asked. They had no idea she was in love with Mike. She felt her heartbeats slow down a little bit as she let out a little sigh. "Look," Forbes spoke, throwing his hands up in the air. "If it's me, just let me know and confirm to these guys that I'm the hottest one out of the bunch."

"Shut up, Forbes." Roma spoke with an eye roll.

April rolled her eyes at them all with a smile. "Why does it even matter?"

"Because we want to know." O'Neil spoke obviously.

They all spoke in agreements, making April turn to Monica. "Why are guys so relentless?"

"Come on, April," Diaz spoke with a shrug, wanting to know who it was just as much as the rest of them. "Just tell us who it is."

"No because this is dumb." April spoke with an eye roll. She was starting to get mad at their badgering.

"April," Forbes spoke in a calm voice, moving even closer to her, making her roll her eyes yet again. "As soon as you talk, we can get back to Thanksgiving."

"I don't think she wants to talk about it, guys." Monica spoke, putting her hands on April's shoulders.

"It takes two seconds." Mike spoke, moving closer to her, honestly hoping it was him.

"Fine!" April suddenly exploded, taking them all by surprise. She was just getting so flustered and Mike asking just pushed her to the top. "You guys really want to know?!" She opened her mouth and stuttered until she finally came with a fake answer. "Forbes!"

After that, she turned on her heels and hurried off, not wanting to talk to anyone else. Monica looked at the guys, obviously pissed and everyone was completely quiet. Well, until Forbes thought back on what she said. "I fucking told you guys."

Roma rolled his eyes as he shook his head at him. "Shut up, Forbes."

* * *

April was sitting in the Lincoln Bedroom, trying to get away from everyone. The touring part of the White House was closed, so for the first time in a while, she didn't have to worry about tourists going through her house and trying to find out everything about her.

She was mad at everyone. She was mad at Diaz and O'Neil for not letting it to. She was mad at Roma for letting it go on for as long as it did. She was mad at Forbes for being cocky enough to think that she actually liked him. Most of all, she was mad at Mike for being the one to push her over the edge. The hardest part was that it was really him she loved. And he would never know it.

She heard the door open and close behind her, making her jump. When she turned around, she saw it was Mike, causing her to roll her eyes and turn back to look at her hand. "What do you want?"

Mike sighed when he saw her, feeling awful. The guys had teased her and teased her until she cracked and he knew this had to be a sensitive subject for her. It was for him. "Can we talk?"

"I don't know," she asked, halfway turning around. "Are you gonna be a complete douche and interview me on how long I've had a crush on Forbes?"

"Okay," Mike spoke, sitting down next to her, looking at her face as April rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest, not wanting to look at him. "I'm a dick."

April scoffed at the act that he was finally admitting it. She had never been so angry with him and it didn't make sense to be mad at him the most. She should have been mad at them all the same amount. She didn't know why she was the maddest at Mike. "Really?" She asked, turning to him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I had no idea."

He bumped into her, causing her to give him a little smile. "Don't be an ass about it." He smile to her, causing her to look away a bit in a blush. And just like that, her anger had disintegrated. "I'm apologizing." When he looked at April, he thought back to the moment he fell in love and how much it hurt him that she didn't love him back. "I honestly never would have thought Forbes was your big crush."

April rolled her eyes at all of this going on. If only he knew. "Yup."

"When did that start?" Mike honestly wanted to get as much information out of her as he could.

April sighed, finding herself look to the left, knowing Mike of all people was going to pick up on that. "Um, like four months ago, I don't know."

Mike began to scrunch his eyebrows together, not understanding where this weird behavior was coming from. "You don't know?" April just shrugged, really trying not to look at him. "Then why did you look to the left when telling me that while also pulling on your ear."

April blinked a couple of times. She knew looking to the left was a basic lying tell, but touching her ear was her specific tell. She didn't even know she had used it. "I saw a bug and I felt it buzz in my ear." She lied again.

"Bullshit." Mike spoke, moving his stance to look her right in the eye. "You're lying." he spoke with the shake of the head, a small smirk growing from catching her lie.

"So what if I am?" April asked defensively while standing up, Mike following her lead, almost like it was a challenge.

"I think you're lying about the whole Forbes thing so everyone can get off your back."

April was fuming, not wanting to spill her secret, but also getting mad that he was in her face. "Get out of the way, Mike."

Mike's smile just got bigger, he loved making her mad, but he also had hope that he was the one. "Not until you tell me who it is."

"Mike!"

"April, tell me who you like."

"You!" She screamed suddenly. "I like you, okay?!"

Mike was frozen for a moment and so was April as the air had filled with sticky silence. She had finally said it while Mike finally had what he wanted. April sighed, trying to hurry past him, but Mike just couldn't let her. Not after everything he had been through in these past four months. The second her hand touched the door knob, Mike grabbed the hand by her side, pulling him to her, their lips crashing together in a hungry, animalistic first kiss.

April didn't expect it, but she wasn't going to stop it. Not when everything she wanted was playing out before her. Mike's tongue danced in her mouth and it was even better than she had imagined it.

Mike couldn't believe that he was doing this. This was his boss's daughter. If anyone found out about this, he would be fired. It all felt so right, though. April fit into his body better than Leah ever had.

When April pulled away from Mike, she began working on removing his coat and bowtie. "Wait," Mike spoke, looking to April, getting her to stop for a moment. "Are you sure?"

April began to laugh slightly, Mike simply making her breathless. "Mike, I broke up with William for you, and have been in love with you since the moment we argued at the entrance of the White House. I've never been surer of anything."

She moved to take off his clothes again, but he stopped her. "You love me?" April was quiet for a moment, scared she ruined everything. Maybe Mike was just in lust with her. Maybe he just did this in a moment of passion. Mike noticed the change of her face, making him know he had to tell her. He moved closer to her face, making sure she could see every inch of it. "Because _I_ love _you_."

April looked up at him, feeling her heart flutter. "Yeah," she practically whispered. This wasn't how she was expecting to say it at all. She wasn't really sure how she expected it, but she loved that it was actually happening. "I love you."

They moved to start kissing again, much slower this time, Mike making sure to touch every part of her body along the way of taking off her dress. He planted kisses and love bites all up her body, now realizing that he had wanted this from the start. He needed this from her, craved it, and they were both kicking themselves for wasting so much time.

Just before the act started, Mike looked down at her, knowing that if they started this, everything would become new again. They would have each other, but they would have to keep it a secret from everyone. But as she smiled up at him, he knew it would all be worth it.

* * *

Mike and April laid in the Lincoln Bedroom, heavy breathing taking over them both. Mike's arm was around April's shoulders as they both looked up at the ceiling, neither of them finding a need to put their tops back on. "I don't think I can walk." April practically breathed out.

Mike began laughing into her shoulder, taking a moment to look at the bareness of it before planting a kiss there. "Am I that good?"

April gave him a tiny smirk. "Maybe, maybe not." Really, that was the best sex she had ever had.

Mike looked at her, letting the gravity of the situation sink in. "We just had sex in the Lincoln Bedroom."

"Yeah." April laughed while shaking her head, hardly believing it like him.

"On Thanksgiving."

April nodded again, laughs just trickling out of her throat. "Yeah, my grandmother is probably in this house and we just had sex." They both laughed about the situation until they stopped, something kicking in to April. "My grandmother is probably here."

She hurried to her phone that was on the nightstand seeing that she had ample missed calls from both of her parents. "Oh my god." April said as she bolted out of the bed. "My dad is gonna kill me."

She hurried to her clothes, putting them on as fast as she could while Mike followed her lead. "You were with me." Mike spoke with a shrug. "That's all we gotta tell them."

"Okay," she spoke looking at the room which was a complete disaster. "But what were we doing?"

Mike looked around, so far just having his pants and shoes on, thinking about everything she was saying. "You're smart. You'll figure something out."

She rolled her eyes at Mike while putting her stockings back on, but he just got on the bed, taking his time to kiss her neck. "Mike," she moaned. "Stop."

"Would it really be so bad – "

"Yes," she cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say. "It would really be that bad to miss Thanksgiving dinner. My parents are probably already hunting for me."

"April?" They both looked to each other with panicked eyes before their eyes darted to the door knob, assuring that it was locked.

"It's locked." Mike whispered to her, placing a hand on hers. "We'll be fine."

That's when the door opened up, April was all the way dressed, but Mike still didn't have his shirt on and they still had to make the bed. To make matters worse, the one who opened up the door was Forbes. He began to laugh, putting his hands on his hips. "Oh, this is rich."

Mike gave him an irritated look while putting on his shirt as April tucked her hair behind her ear, putting on her shoes. "Shut up, Forbes."

"So, it's not me you have a crush on," Forbes began as Mike stood up to put on his bow tie and blazer while April began making the bed, trying to block him out as best as she could. "You had a crush on Mikey."

April rolled her eyes, Mike doing the same while helping out in making the bed. "So, what Mike, you found this out and then you two jumped each other's bones?"

After finishing up the bed, both Mike and April straightened up, looking to each other, sharing a moment where they practically read each other's minds, trying to find out if they should tell him or not. After a few moments of just looking at each other, April threw up one of her crossed arms in a shrug. Mike finally turned to him, taking a deep breath before saying, "We're in love."

All the joking was off of Forbes face the second he heard that, his eyes widening slightly. Sure, he knew the two were close, but he just didn't expect that. April hurried over to Mike, looping her arm through his. "And we would really appreciate it if you could keep this secret for us."

Forbes sighed, looking at each of them individually before shrugging. "What the hell? I'm retiring in two months anyway." April hurried to him, giving him a big hug. "Just get down there, everyone's wondering where you two are."

"Thank you." April whispered to him as Mike grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bedroom.

Forbes looked around at the room, shaking his head at how easy it was to catch them. "Amateurs."

Mike and April let go of each other's hands once they got to the steps and hurried down them to see everyone waiting in the parlor. "April!" Grandmother Asher spoke, going straight for her.

"Hello, Grandmother!" When she went to go hug her, Ben gave April that we'll-have-a-talk-later-that-you're-not-gonna-like look which she just nodded to, knowing it was going to happen.

"You just get more gorgeous," she spoke as she pulled away from April, April automatically blushing and shaking her head which Mike just smiled to. He just found it all very cute. And the fact that he loved her and she loved him back just made him very happy. "Every time I see you."

"Where were you two?" Maggie asked, standing up and going behind Grandmother Asher to look at her daughter and top secret service agent.

"Uh," Mike began as April turned around to look at him with an angry face. "We thought we heard rats in the walls so we were inspecting."

"Rats?" Maggie asked in shock and disgust.

"Cool." Conner spoke with a shrug.

April gave her brother an irritated look while Ben brought her back into the conversation. "Well, did you two find anything?"

"Yeah." April spoke while looking back at Mike before looking back to her father. "It was pretty big too." Mike smiled a little bit, knowing what she was getting at. "At least six inches."

"Maybe bigger." Mike spoke confidently.

April shook her head with her eyes shut. "No, definitely six inches."

"Well," Ben spoke as April gave Mike a flirty smile. "We'll check it out tomorrow, right now, let's get dinner started."

Grandmother Asher put her arm around April's shoulders as the rest of them walked forward the two trailing behind with Mike at their tail. "You know," her grandmother whispered in her ear. "I love the glow of a woman who was just fucked."

April immediately choked on her spit, never hearing that word come out of her grandmother before while Mike stood still. "Oh, come on, you two." Grandmother Asher spoke while looking to them two, removing her arm from April's shoulders. "Get it together or the whole family will know."

She walked off, April turning back to Mike with wide eyes. "I didn't know your grandmother was like that."

" _I_ didn't know my grandmother was like that." She spoke in a panicked tone.

Mike put his hand on her back, guiding her into the dining room, ready to have the most awkward Thanksgiving dinner on the planet.

* * *

April sat on her bed with her grandmother. "How did you know?" She whispered, afraid that anyone outside could hear them like earlier today.

"Oh, I could tell by the look on your face." April held her favorite pillow to her chest, thinking about it all over again, making her smile. "And by the way you two were talking."

"Grandmother," April spoke slowly. "I think I'm in love with him."

"I could pick that up too." She spoke with a nod. April bit her lip as she smiled lightly at her words, thinking about Mike all over again. Thinking about how perfectly this was all working out. Never in her wildest dreams would she expect Mike to tell her he loved her back or that she would have the courage to tell him how she really felt. "And I know he loves you."

She looked back to her grandmother, taking deep breaths. "Thanks, Grandmother."

She looked to her granddaughter, completely confused on why she thanked her. "For what, dear?"

April smiled to her, taking a deep breath before thinking on how to explain exactly what she was thanking her for. "For bunking with me."

* * *

Everyone was at the front entrance, saying goodbye to Grandmother Asher. The family talking to each other, Mike standing in the back just watching when Grandmother Asher came up to him. "Ma'am." He spoke with a nod.

"Mike," she nodded back, the family continuing to talk, both of them watching. "Take care of my son, Mike."

"I will, ma'am."

"And if you hurt my granddaughter – "

"Trust me, ma'am," he told her with a laugh, his eyes not leaving April. "That will never happen."

"Good." She spoke with a nod. "Because if you do, I'm going after you."

Mike laughed, eyes still trained on April. She was just so gorgeous, and he couldn't believe that he was worthy enough to deserve her love. He was a piece of crap, and he knew that, but to her, he was everything, and that just made him hate himself a little less.

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Ugh, I know! But I'm sure you'll love the events of this chapter hehehe.**_

 _ **THO12120445: Done!**_

 _ **Mascota: Thank you so much for your wonderful review! It honestly made my day. I'm planning a few interactions with Leah and April after the accident so those will be pretty fun to write. I hope you enjoyed this one, honey!**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: I know you're gonna love this one, hun! I hope you liked the union!**_

 ** _MisfitCarter: Honestly! And it's finally all out there! Thank you for the review!_**

 ** _Okay, this is the chapter we have all been waiting for. I hope you all liked the two FINALLY getting together, and just a friendly reminder, only one more chapter and then we'll get to the accident. Thanks for the read and remember to review!_**


	10. Promises

_**December**_

So, April had taken her mother's advice and joined the choir in her second semester, but not alone. She dragged Megan along with her. They were currently getting ready for their winter show, the guys running through their song as the girls were sitting in the audience, talking. Megan was especially talkative since she had just found out what happened between April and Mike.

"How was it?"

April let out a happy sigh, thinking about it all over again. "It was amazing, Megan."

"I'm gone for one week." She complained.

"He's just so perfect." April sighed out. "We just…belong together."

Megan forgot about her frustration and just focused on her friend's happiness. "I am so happy for you." April gave her a happy smile. "Especially since I've been waiting for this to happen for _four_ months."

April gave her a look, but managed a smile through it. "Girls," their choir director called in the loudest voice she could manage in the outdoor performing area. "You're on in five."

Megan and April stood together, moving the stage, April pulling her jacket closer to her, feeling the breeze pick up. "Why do we have to perform outside?" April complained.

"I heard it's gonna snow on the night of the concert."

"Lucky us." April spoke sarcastically as her phone buzzed.

She pulled it out, immediately smiling at who the message was from. "Is that your boyfriend?" Megan taunted.

April opened her mouth, about to say yes, but that's when she realized she didn't know what the title was for her and Mike. They were together, but they were also cheating on Leah. They were also keeping their relationship a secret. The only people who knew were her grandmother, Forbes and Megan. So, were they even technically together?

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Megan asked, tearing April out of her thoughts.

"Oh," Those insecurities were just still running through April's head, though. "I'm actually going out with Mike."

"Really?" Megan spoke in an interested voice. "Like on a real date?"

"Our first." April spoke, playing with her necklace.

"Well," Megan spoke, moving closer to her best friend. "I only have one bit of advice." April gave her a weird glance as Megan just continued with her smile. "Don't kiss him on the first date."

April shoved her forward as Megan advanced to the stage. "Shut up."

* * *

The cover was that April was spending the night at Megan's but really April and Mike were going to try this out. Mike was beyond ecstatic that they were going to spend the night out of the White House and go on a real date, but April was nervous. She kept thinking about what they were together. It was easy for Mike not to have any questions about it. It wasn't in his personality. He just followed his heart. April was more of a thinker, and lately, she was more of an over thinker. No matter how well they sugar coated what they were doing, they were still cheating, and deep down, even if April loved every second she had Mike, she felt guilty.

April had spent hours trying on different outfits and doing her make up different ways to find the perfect look. She had finally settled on a white, lacey dress and tan booties with the same make up she did for the Independence Day Ball. She thought it was perfectly fitting.

When she walked down the steps, Mike was there waiting for her. Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw him in his formal wear instead of the normal suit and tie. And he did it all for her. She had butterflies, and she didn't think she would be able to control them. She had already said goodbye to her mom and dad meaning her night belonged to Mike.

Mike met her at the bottom of the stairs, taking her hand and leading her out the front door. For the first time in a long time, April was starting to feel like a normal girl. Not the president's daughter, but a girl going on a date with the man she loved.

They weren't going in the normal limo or town car either, Mike drove. And it was good to sit in the front seat of a car again. The two laughed and talked on the way to the restaurant while listening to Elvis Castello, warming her heart until the warmth reached her entire body.

When they parked at the back of the restaurant, that's when she got confused. "What are we doing?" she asked Mike as he began undoing his seatbelt.

"Well, we can't go through the front." April's face fell a little, thinking back on how they were in secret. "Besides, I got us a private room in the back."

His door opened and shut while he hurried to her side of the car. "A private room?" She repeated to herself. Mike opened up her door, April smiling at him, trying to forget all about it as he helped her out of the car.

When they walked into the restaurant, they didn't see couples around also sharing a fancy night out. They didn't see business partners and old friends going out for drinks. The first thing they saw was the private room. April knew it was so no one would see them and she knew it was something they had to do, but at the same time, she didn't feel like a normal girl anymore.

Mike guided her to her seat, pouring her a glass of champagne. "Wow," she commented as he finished pouring her glass to the top. "Don't I feel fancy?"

Mike looked to her once he was back in his seat, giving her a bit of a smile. "This is really cheesy, isn't it?"

"A little." She laughed out.

"I just really want this night to be perfect." He explained shyly.

"Mike," she spoke, reaching out for his hands which he gave to her without hesitation. "I want you to know that I don't need a fancy dinner for a perfect night. I just need you."

Mike stared at her for a moment before standing up abruptly. "Do you wanna go get a burger and some beers?"

"Please." She commented, taking his hand as he pulled her up. He began leading her out of the room, but April thought of something. "Hold on." She told him, hurrying back to the table.

She grabbed the champagne out of the cooler before hurrying back to him. "April," he called as she hurried past him.

"We already paid for it." She whispered while the two hurried back to the car before anyone could notice they were gone.

* * *

So Mike bought a six pack and two burgers and the two went back to Mike's house where they changed into something a lot more comfortable. Sweats and T-shirts. Leah was working the night shift so they didn't have to worry about her coming in any time soon. The two were just talking and eating and drinking. Nothing was off limits. They talked about the time in first grade when April got a concussion, leading to the moment she knew she wanted to be a nurse. They talked about Mike's drinking problem a while back and how he most definitely needed to cut back, leading to him joining the MI6 and eventually moving to America to be a secret service agent.

They also got to talking about Mike's marriage and when it exactly ended. It happened a little before he and April had first met, Mike was eating breakfast with her one morning and it was complete silence. That's when he realized they had nothing to talk about anymore. He lost interest in what she said, their lives just didn't mesh anymore. They had ended up kind of just using each other for sex or whatever they wanted at that moment. He really did try to make it work, but you can't just force yourself to fall back in love with someone. Mike opened all the way up to her.

After they were both feeling a little drunk, Mike took her into his room. April slowly slipped off her clothes first, Mike taking in every part of her body in that moment, even that little storm cloud tattoo. She was everything he had ever wanted and he knew that this would be different than it was with Leah. They laid on the bed, taking their time to make sure every bit of it could be as pleasurable as possible. It was passionate and slow, a lot different than the first time, but just as good. Maybe even better.

When it was done, Mike was still on top of April, just staring at her face, rubbing his thumb along her cheek in soft circles as April held onto his arm like if she let go, she would lose him. "I love you." She whispered as she looked at every little wrinkle on his face. She knew he hated them, but she loved every single one of them.

"I love you." He told her without hesitation before leaning down and placing a light kiss on her lips. "I really do." He whispered, planting another kiss on her lips, making her start laughing as he began to plant countless kisses on her lips.

"Mike!" April laughed out loudly, but stopped once they heard the door open.

April gave him a panicked look, knowing that if Leah caught her here it would not be pretty. April got off of Mike, not knowing what to do for a minute. She immediately pulled his T-shirt off the floor, put it on and ran into the closet. Almost immediately after she was secured in the room, the bedroom door opened. "Hey, baby." Leah called in a bland voice.

"Oh my gosh." April whispered, putting her hand to her mouth so her breathing wouldn't be heard.

"Hey, baby." Mike said right back. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came back to change out scrubs." She spoke, showing him the blood on them.

"What happened?" He asked as she went to their dresser and Mike's eyes moved to the closet nervously.

"Shot wound vic." April breathed heavily into her palms as they shook, never being more scared of anything in her life.

She began traveling to the laundry room to put her used scrubs in the washer, but April still couldn't move. "Mike," Leah called out as she walked back into their bedroom. "What are you doing already in bed?"

Mike shrugged, giving her a shy smile. "I had a long day."

"Well, I'm probably not gonna be home until seven in the morning."

"I'll be at work by then." Mike spoke with a shrug.

Leah climbed on the bed, moving toward his face. "Maybe we could have a repeat of the other night." That's when she kissed him, but they both knew there wasn't any passion in it. Not from April's view, though. She saw her boyfriend…if you could even call him that, kissing his wife, letting it sink in that no matter what she and Mike felt for each other, she would always be the mistress.

"I gotta get back to saving people." She spoke with a shrug.

"Duty calls." He spoke with a shrug before she moved in to give him a peck on the lips. With that, Leah grabbed her purse off the floor and made her way out of the house.

When April heard the door close, she jumped a little, feeling the shaking of the house wreak through her body. For a moment, she couldn't move. She was having an internal panic attack. Mike said he loved her, but he was still sleeping with Leah. Leah almost caught her fucking her husband on her own bed. All of April felt dirty after that, and all she could do was sit there and think about it.

April slowly got up from her spot and opened up the closet doors, seeing Mike putting his underwear and sweatpants back on. "April," he spoke slowly once he was done, starting to move towards her.

"I thought you said she wasn't coming home." April started, her voice dead and bland like a zombie. "You said we had the whole night, the whole place to ourselves and nothing would happen."

"I didn't think she was going to come home to change her scrubs." He spoke, trying to reason with her. She simply shook her head at him, still looking dead. "Look, baby – "

"That's what you called Leah." April spoke with the shake of the head and a soft voice, looking down after that. Mike didn't know what to say to her, but he felt like his throat was swelling up. Like he wasn't able to breath. "This whole night, you have been trying to hide me like I'm something dirty you don't want to be seen with."

"You know we can't be seen together, April. You knew what this was from the start."

"God!" April screamed out, finally getting loud for the first time. "What do you even call me? Your girlfriend? Your mistress?" Mike tried to step forward, but she just shook her head at him, looking him right in the eye. "You're still sleeping with Leah, aren't you?" Mike just looked at her. He didn't want to lie, but he also didn't want to tell the truth, so he decided to remain silent. "Oh, fucking rich."

"April," Mike spoke, finding it hard to talk again as she looked around the room for her things. "You don't know what it's like to be married."

"You're right," she spoke as she sat on the bed to put her sweatpants back on. "I don't."

"You have to have sex every now and then." He sat down right next to her after her pants were on, and all April could do was look at him. "That's what you have to do as a married couple, even if you know the passion's gone. It's just a physical activity."

"That's the thing, Mike!" She yelled, standing up. "How do _I_ not know that I'm just a physical activity if you can just do it anytime you want with Leah?" Mike opened his mouth again, but April wasn't done. "You said you loved me! You said I was different than Leah and you had been out of love with her for a long, long time!"

"I do love you!" Mike shouted, actually raising his voice at her, but April was going to raise it right back.

"Is that all I ever was to you?! A physical activity?!"

"No!" Mike was getting mad now. Mad that she would actually say that about him and how he felt about her. "Never!"

"Was I just some quest for you to defeat?"

"What?!" He had no idea where she had gotten that from.

"'Yeah,'" she spoke, mimicking his accent as best as she could. "'Let me just screw the president's daughter and we'll call it a grand time.'"

"Okay," Mike spoke, trying to calm himself down. "Now you're acting crazy."

"Am I really, though?" She spoke as calm as she could, shrugging a little bit. "Wouldn't you ask the same things if the roles were reversed?"

He was quiet, but April couldn't stop these tears she had been holding in for the entire fight. "I don't think I can do this, Mike."

He looked up at her, eyes wide at what she had said. "April – "

"We tried it." She said with a shrug as she began to back out of the room. "And it just didn't work, so I'm leaving, Mike."

April began to walk out of the room and down the hall to the front door. "April!" Mike called after her. He wasn't even mad anymore, he was just scared of her walking out like this. He ran past her, putting himself in front of the door. "April, just take a minute to think about this."

April bit her lip, knowing that no matter how she felt about him, no matter the fact that she loved him with all of her heart, she couldn't be with Mike. "Maybe we'll work out again another time." She told him in a hoarse voice before pushing him out of the way and walking out of his house.

She began down the first few steps, but she honestly couldn't take it. She sat down, throwing her face in her hands and crying out. She sat there for a few minutes, letting it all out before pulling out her phone and dialing Megan's number.

* * *

So, Megan gave her a ride back home in the morning and that entire day, Mike and April avoided each other. They just found it easier that way. The next few days were some of the hardest of their life. It was like they had went backwards in their relationship with an additional ten pounds weighing them down. April wasn't eating. She could hardly sleep. Her mother noticed that Megan was coming over a lot more than usual and Mike was especially quiet.

It was the night of the choir concert and everyone in the house was getting ready. No matter what happened, Mike was still on April's security detail, so while she was getting ready, Mike was standing outside her door.

Maggie walked up to him with a bit of a smile. "Ma'am," he told her with a nod.

"Hey, Mike."

Mike looked to the door a little awkwardly before turning back to the First Lady. "Do you want to go in and talk to April?"

"No." She told him, smiling just a little brighter at the fact that she was finally going to be able to talk to Mike about something that had been swimming in her mind since July. "I really want to talk to you."

"About what?" he asked as he looked around the space they were in, wondering what on earth they were going to talk about outside of April's bedroom door.

Maggie looked around for a moment, gathering what all she was going to say. "I'm not a hundred percent sure what's going on right now, but I do have an idea." Mike turned his head to the side, wondering if she knew about him and April. "My daughter is very complex, a lot like her father, but if you show her quite simply what you feel for her, she'll stick by your side through everything."

Mike stood there for a moment, looking at Maggie who wore a bright smile. "Are you saying you know – "

She shrugged and began to back off, hurrying down the stairs as Mike just continued to stand there, dumbfounded. April's ear was to the door, hearing everything her mother had said. She put a hand to her mouth, trying to keep herself from crying and laughing at the same time. Did everyone in the world ship her and Mike?

* * *

April and Megan stood back stage, wearing their winter coats with how cold it was outside as they boys were performing their song. "It wouldn't have killed her to have the concert indoors after finding out it was going to snow?" Megan complained as she shivered.

April, she wasn't really cold. She didn't feel a lot since her and Mike broke up, now being one time she was thankful for that. "April?"

They both turned around, seeing Mike walk up to the two. April's mouth dropped slightly, shocked that he was even talking to her. She hadn't heard his voice in so long and it was like music to her ears. "I'll give you two a minute." Megan spoke, keeping her eyes on her best friend until she got next to Mike. That's when she stared him down which Mike found kind of terrifying.

Once Megan was gone, all they could do was look at each other. There was so much they wanted to say, but they didn't know how to say it. "April," Mike spoke, moving toward her, closing the space between them, April just looking up at him, reminding Mike why he fell in love with her. "Look, I shouldn't have continued to have sex with Leah, that's a mistake that I will do anything to fix, but I can't have us apart like this." April didn't know what to say to him. "And I got these." He gave April folded up papers, April starting to unfold and look at them. "They're divorce papers." April gave him a shocked face, not expecting that from him at all. "I'm giving them to Leah when we get back from Camp David."

April bit her lip, looking down slightly, not sure what to say to him or about any of this. "It's gonna be messy and we might get our heart's broken along the way, but if that even means a second with you, I'm taking it. And yeah," Mike spoke with a laugh as April was watching him in wonderment. "This love is probably gonna lead to the biggest scar I've ever had. It's probably gonna lead to tragedy and tears, but I love you and that's something that's never gonna change for as long as my wasted heart keeps beating." April smiled as she watched him, knowing in that moment, he was completely forgiven and she didn't want anyone else by her side. "So, I've got one question for you…. Are you ready for the ride of your fucking life?"

April couldn't wait anymore. She got on her toes, giving him the best kiss she could as the dreaded snow began to fall, but April and Mike were completely warm. The snow melted the second it touched the two's lips, April smiling into the kiss as the flakes dissolved around them. The two had never been happier.

As they kissed, Ben had made it backstage to give April flowers, but then he saw April and Mike. Part of him was glad because they had this obvious tension between the two, but the other part of him didn't know what to say about all of this. He was watching his little girl making out with the best worker he ever had. As the two pulled away from each other, Ben hurried off with his guards trailing him, going back to his seat with Maggie and Conner. Maggie saw the flowers still in Ben's had, furrowing her eyebrows at that. "Why didn't you give April the flowers?"

Ben sighed, still confused at what he saw. "April was tied up at the moment."

* * *

After the concert, April and Mike went to go find the family, Maggie meeting her daughter in a large hug. "Oh, honey, you wonderful."

"I was in the back." She told her in an obvious voice.

"Can we go eat now?" Conner complained.

"Oh, please," April spoke, looking to her father, finally having the attitude to eat again. "I'm starving."

Ben smiled at his daughter, pulling out the flowers for her from behind his back. April gasped, taking them from him. "They're beautiful." She boasted before looking back to her father. "Now can we go get something to eat?"

"Smart ass." Ben complained as he put his arm around her.

Mike took a moment to watch that family. He honestly didn't care if coming out in a relationship with April was going to ruin his professional career. He was just happy to have April and for the first time since this relationship had started, everything was going their way. But Camp David was going to be the end of their good luck streak.

 ** _Mrs. HappyAnarchy: I know! Finally! And Grandmother was a hoot to write. I'm hoping we'll be able to see some more of her. I'm glad you liked "six inches" I thought it was funny. And as you can see in this chapter, everyone kind of knows, but is too polite to say anything. I hope you liked it!_**

 ** _Guest, Kagome309: Thank you for your reviews! It was just a slow build up and now we're getting to the good stuff_**

 ** _MisfitCarter: I'm glad to deliver! This is what we've all been waiting for and I'm so happy you loved it!_**

 ** _NGArmyWife: I hope you liked this one, love. Thanks for the review!_**

 _ **Okay so the next chapter is going to be the accident which I'm excited to write, but also sad because I love Maggie. I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter and make sure you drink a lot of water before reading the next few chapters because you may cry. Love ya!**_


	11. Camp David

On the way to Camp David, it was just Forbes, Mike and April in the car, giving the two some extra alone time, knowing they weren't going to get much with the whole family around. Most of the time, April read, but when Mike could distract her long enough, they would talk or make out. Whichever they felt at the moment.

When they finally got to the cabin, April and Conner were ecstatic. They immediately wanted to explore the place. There were TVs, game consoles, a gym downstairs and even a theater. There was also a huge pool in the back, but they all knew they weren't getting in that during this weather. It was practically a blizzard outside.

The Secret Service had the entire guest house right next to the main house with constant guards monitoring the outside and the inside of both cabins. Basically, it was really hard for Mike to get into April s room. April was lying on her bed with Mike lying on top of her, playing with her hair. The TV was on in her room, but neither of them were watching it. They were too distracted with each other.

"So," April spoke. "These are our last few weeks in secret."

Mike shrugged as he looked back to her. "What about it?"

"Anything you want to do that s super-secret?" She teased, moving even closer into his chest.

Mike laughed at her playful face before giving her that loving stare once again. "Not a damn thing. I don't want anything else than to come out in the open with you."

April smiled, putting her forehead to his with a loving breath. Mike moved his hand down to hers as they pulled apart, April continuing to rub calming circles on his upper arm. "So, when the divorce is final and we're out in the open, what are we gonna do?"

Mike looked up, thinking a little bit. "I was thinking we could buy a house or an apartment somewhere in DC. Close enough so both of us can commute to work without trouble."

"Where would I work?" She said it in more of a wonderment, looking off into the distance envisioning what their perfect life would look like.

"After you graduate college and you have your RN, you will be a wonderful nurse."

April looked to him with a bashful smile. She loved that he had so much faith in her. That was something she hadn't found anywhere else in any of her other boyfriends but Mike. "And my dad can come over."

"And we can go over there." Mike spoke with a shrug. "We can go visit my mom and my brother in Scotland."

April bit her lip, thinking about an international trip with just her and Mike. "We could get married." The second April whispered that out, she had no idea where it had come from. She was scared to look at Mike again, wondering if he was going to be creeped out by what she had just said.

She slowly picked up her head, her eyes taking their time to meet his gaze. When their crystal eyes finally met, Mike was looking at her in that same wonderment she had on earlier. "We could get married." He repeated, his voice soft and low, but filled with so much love.

April leaned in slightly to kiss him, but took a moment before putting his lips with hers. She took a moment to look at his eyes, assuring herself how much she loved him and how much he loved her. Her hands slowly traveled up to the back of his head, pulling him in, Mike loving the kiss, but at the same time, hating that he couldn't stare into her eyes forever.

This kiss was so much different than all of their other kisses. For the first time in their entire romantic relationship, they didn't feel like they were sneaking around. It didn't hold the thrill of a forbidden kiss, but it held nothing but that homey sense of being in love. When they pulled apart, Mike smiled at her, April smiling right back. "I love you, April Asher."

April began to fix the hair she messed up during their kiss before looking right back into those eyes she hoped she would spend the rest of her life with. "I love you, Mike Banning."

* * *

Mike and April had an early morning sparring session. That was the cover, but it wasn't too much of a lie because as soon as the two woke up, that s what they did. But that was probably the only relaxing thing that happened all day for the Asher family.

They were in and out of the cabin, meeting with diplomats, going to fundraisers. It was so exhausting, each of them fell asleep in the car at least one time. When they finally got back to the cabin for good, April and Conner both threw themselves down on the couch. Mike walked over to the two with furrowed eyebrows. "Come on, you guys, you want to go down to the theater?"

"We can't move." Conner complained, giving Mike an irritated stare.

"I'm gonna have to agree with the annoying little brother on this one."

"You're the annoying big sister." Conner complained while pushing her legs off the couch.

"Hey!" She yelled, pushing his legs right off the couch like he did.

Mike sighed, rolling his eyes slightly as the argument continued, the two now up and pushing each other's arms back. "Hey!" Ben called, walking into the room to see the two fighting. "April, Conner, stop."

They both listened to their father, letting go of each other but continuing to give each other the death stare. "Hey," they all turned to see Forbes peeking into the room. "I got the movie in for you guys, it's about to start."

April gave Mike an excited smile as she jumped up from the couch and hurried to Mike. The two were about to run downstairs, Ben watching the two, thinking back on what he saw at the concert. "Where are you two going?"

April looked back to her father, finding his suspicion well...suspicious. "We're going downstairs to watch a movie."

Maggie gave her husband a weird glance, not understanding what he was getting at. "Well, can I come too?"

April looked to Mike, knowing damn well what they were going to do in that theater was something they couldn't do with her father there. "Well, we're watching Scream and I know you don t like scary movies."

"I still want to watch it with you guys. Maggie, why don't you come too? We ll make it a family activity."

"What about me?" Conner asked, getting up from the couch excitedly at the chance of him being able to watch an R rated movie.

"Not you, buddy." Ben spoke, turning around to look at him quickly.

April continued to stand there, not sure what to do. She looked to her mother who gave her a shrug, just as confused about this as her daughter was. "Uh, sure, Dad." April finally spoke with a shrug.

"Great!" He spoke, hurrying into the kitchen. "You two go down there, Maggie and I will make the popcorn."

April turned to look at Mike, giving him an obvious forced smile as the two went downstairs to the theater. "What the hell." April spoke through her teeth.

"We have time through the rest of the trip."

"No," April complained, becoming upset about her father s intrusion. "We really don't because all we are doing is going to fundraisers and outings that we have to show up to for a photo op."

April angrily sat down at one of the seats in the theater, crossing her arms in one fluid motion, making Mike chuckle just a little bit. He slowly moved to her, still in that position as he sat down next to her, putting his arm around her causing her to lean into his body with a huff. "Does it even really matter because after this trip, we re gonna be together all the time and you re probably gonna get sick of me."

"That's true." She spoke in a dull voice as he gave her an offended face, making her smile as she looked up at him. "I love you."

"No," he spoke, taking his arm from around her. "I'm mad at you now."

"Mike," April whined through a laugh as she got up on her knees, trying to move closer to him, but he just kept backing away.

Ben began to walk into the theater with Maggie following behind him, really not wanting to get in between the two love birds. That s when the two heard the loud laughter. When they were all the way into the theater, they saw April s puckered up lips advancing towards Mike as he just leaned further away from her, laughing almost as loud as her.

Maggie smiled a little bit at the two, finding them both very cute when they were in love, but Ben felt uncomfortable, still not knowing how to act to the two being together. "I got the popcorn." He announced loudly, the two sitting up straight in their seats again.

Ben moved to the two as Maggie trailed behind just as the movie was starting, both Mike and April sharing a look before looking back to the screen. Ben got to where Mike and April were sitting, looking at Mike sitting in the seat closest to April. "Mike, mind scooting over two?" Mike and Maggie both turned to look at him like he was insane, but they had to remember that Ben didn't know anything about the two. Mike gave April a tiny, annoyed glance which she just shrugged to, almost apologetically as Mike got up and moved two seats away from his girlfriend.

Ben and Maggie sat down between the two, Ben the closest to April and Maggie next to Mike. April let out a sigh as Drew Barrymore leaned across the island, talking on the phone. "Wait," Ben spoke loudly, causing April to shut her eyes. This is why she hated watching movies with her father. "Who's the killer?"

"We don't know." Maggie answered for April as she crossed her arms getting irritated.

Ben leaned over April trying to talk to Maggie. "You two don't know or _they_ don't know?"

"No one knows." April spoke, annoyance dripping out of every word.

"We don't know now?"

"Dad, watch the movie." April spoke while shutting her eyes and getting loud.

It was silent for a moment as the four watched the killer chasing Drew Barrymore around the house. "I just want to know who the killer is."

April let out an irritated scream, standing up and looking to her father. "It's Billy, and Stu helps him out!"

April suddenly hurried out of the room after that, Mike standing up and moving past Ben and Maggie. "I'll get her. He mumbled after getting out of the row of movie style chairs. Ben just watched him walk out as Maggie began to give him a death glare.

When Ben turned to his wife, he looked at her like he didn't know what was going on. "What did I do?"

Maggie stood up, separating the space between the two before picking popcorn out of the bowl and throwing a few bits right at Ben's face. "You know what you did."

April was standing in the hallway outside the theater, pacing in the small space. Mike got out of the theater, giving her a wild look. "What happened to not drawing any attention?"

April crossed her arms, rolling her eyes slightly. "He pissed me off."

"He's your father." Mike spoke obviously. "He's gonna do that."

April sighed, looking to Mike, not knowing what to say to him. "It's Christmas." Mike gave her a confused look which she just sighed to, knowing she would have to explain. "During Christmas, he's different, he's more appreciative, not as up tight." She bit her lip, trying to think how to phrase this next sentence. "He's not the Governor of Pennsylvania or the President of the United States, he s just...my dad."

Mike looked to her with a deep sigh, knowing this Christmas probably felt really different to April, and he wanted to do something to help, but he just didn't know what. That's when he got a pretty good idea. "Wait right here."

April gave him a confused face, but he went off before she could ask him anything. Ben and Maggie were still in the theater, half watching the movie, half waiting for April to come back. When Mike finally came back, they both turned to him excitedly. "Is she okay?" Maggie asked automatically.

"No." He spoke, quickly shutting his eyes for saying that. "Yes. Maybe. Mr. President, I need to talk to you about her." Ben gave Maggie the bowl of popcorn before getting up and following Mike.

April was still waiting in the hall, expecting Mike to come back to get her, but it was Ben instead. She looked to her father, taking a deep breath and crossing her arms even deeper. "So, Mike told me what was up with you."

April rolled her eyes at him while shaking her head. "Of course he did."

"You think he shouldn't have?"

April just shrugged, not really wanting to talk about what she thought Mike should do. "April, I'm sorry this Christmas wasn't what you were expecting, but you of all people knew that everything was going to change when I became president."

April nodded, still not really wanting to look at her father while Ben was thinking of everything he could do to make her feel better. He didn't care about not knowing about April and Mike s relationship anymore. He just wanted his daughter to be happy during what should have been the happiest time of the year. "Okay," Ben spoke, getting April's attention again. "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we have one fundraiser to go to at night, why don t we leave early and watch the corniest Christmas movies?"

April got a big smile across her face causing Ben's smile to get wider with hers. "Really?"

"Yeah." Ben almost whispered, wanting to keep that smile on her face forever.

April got close to him, looking at him for a moment. "Thank you, Dad."

Ben couldn't wait another moment. He pulled her in for a large hug which April buried her head into. Ben knew he couldn't make up for how bad this vacation had been, but he could make the rest of it as best as he could.

* * *

Ben and Mike were boxing downstairs as everyone upstairs began getting ready for the party. April was doing her makeup, leaning in close to focus putting on her mascara when there was a knock on her door, making her jump. She breathed out, glad she hadn't started putting it on and accidentally poked herself in the eye.

She sighed before going to the door to answer it. Forbes stood in her doorway with a smile, holding an object in his hand. April gasped excitedly, pulling it from Forbes with a smile on her face. "You got it!"

"Yeah," Forbes sighed out as April brushed it lovingly. "And you will never know how hard it was to get that."

"Thank you." She told him before throwing her arms around him in a big hug.

Forbes smiled with a bit of an eye roll. He loved April, he wasn't going to deny it. She was the only thing that made him want to keep this job for as long as he did when Ben was elected. "You owe me one, Asher." When they pulled apart, he gestured to her face. "Now finish up your makeup unless you're going for that whole cyclops look."

He began to close the door as April picked up a pillow from her bed to throw it at him. He closed the door just in time for the pillow to hit the door.

* * *

Mike walked up to Ben and Maggie's door to alert them both on the time, hearing Maggie's voice automatically. He knocked on the door, Ben answering automatically. "Good evening, Mr. President. Five minutes, sir."

Ben gave him a big smile, thinking back on how funny it would be to see April and Mike out and about since she was so loose and he was so rigged. He shrugged it off though, guessing opposites do attract. "Thanks, Mike."

Maggie suddenly came into view, gripping two earrings, obviously flustered, but when she saw Mike, she thought the same thing Ben was thinking. "Evening, ma'am." Mike told her with a nod.

"Merry Christmas, Mike." She told him with a bright smile, bringing the earrings into view while giving Ben an irritated smirk. "The president gets us off our dependence of foreign oil yet he cannot help a wife choose an earring."

She began to put them up to her ears, giving him an example of what each would look like. Mike shrugged after studying the two. "The small one. Classic look for a classic lady."

A big smile spread across Maggie's face at that compliment while Ben rolled his eyes. No wonder April fell for him. "Good chat." She told him with a point, making sure to look at Ben at the fact that he didn't come up with something that good.

"Kiss ass." Ben commented as Mike gave him a smirk before shutting the door and letting them continue to get ready.

As he walked down the hallway, a pair of hands grabbed him, pulling him into a room and shutting the door behind him. Before Mike could even get his mind on track of what happened, a pair of lips crashed into his excitedly. He knew those lips anywhere. He closed his eyes automatically, kissing April back as hard as she was kissing him, his eyebrows going up in shock on how intimate she was being.

When April pulled away, Mike's eyes were wide as a huge smile took over her entire face. "Merry Christmas!" She told him excitedly.

Mike chuckled at how excited she looked. "Merry Christmas." He laughed out while taking in her whole body. That green dress hugged her body so tight and her red lips were glossed to perfection even if she just gave him the hardest kiss possible.

"I have your Christmas present." She whispered with an excited look on her face.

Mike gave her a bit of smirk while pulling a box out of his inner coat pocket. "And I have yours."

"Me first." April spoke before hurrying off to her bed where she was keeping it. Mike rolled his eyes, but he kept smiling at her. "Now, I didn't have time to wrap it so close your eyes.

Mike rolled his eyes, but listened to her commands. April moved toward him with a huge smile, just waiting for his reaction. She pulled his arms out, placing it in his hand so he would be able to see it the second he opened his eyes. She finally stepped back a little bit, taking in all of her wonderful work before finally saying, "Open them."

When he opened his eyes, he automatically looked to what was sitting in his hands, already getting a wide smile. "Where the hell did you get my old band s CD? _I_ don't even have a copy." He looked to her, laughing. "We only made like a hundred of these when we found out they weren't selling. And they were only released in Scotland."

"You know what I've learned?" He gave her a confused glance, not understanding what she was getting at. "That when you're the president's daughter, you can call in a lot of favors." Mike smiled, looking back to the CD, his smile getting a little wider at how much thought and effort she put into finding it. "And it was also really cheap."

He looked to her, leaning in to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. "I love it, babe."

When he pulled away from her cheek, he let his head rest there for a moment, April loving every second of it. "My turn." He whispered before pulling away from her and handing over the small jewelry box. "I hope you like it." He whispered as she began to tear off the ribbon.

April's mouth dropped the second she got it open. "Mike." She gasped, feeling tears begin to collect in her eyes at how perfect it was. She wasn't one to cry at small things like that, but this one was so different. She pulled the necklace, Mike still giving her a worried glance. "It's a cloud." She spoke through the sniffles.

"Yeah," he spoke, meeting her eyes for the first time. "The whole 'April showers' thing."

"Mike," she gasped again, looking back to her now favorite piece of jewelry.

"If you don't like it, its fine," April looked to him, shocked those words were even coming out of his mouth. "I ll take it back and I ll get you something - "

April didn't waste another minute. She wrapped her arms around Mike s neck and pulled him into a loving, soft kiss. When she pulled away, Mike was giving her a big smile, not needing any more confirmation than that. "I love it."

He put his forehead to hers, breathing her all in before speaking again. "There's more in the box."

April scrunched her eyebrows together, but looked back to the box, finding some folded up papers. She put the box down on her bed, unfolding the papers to get a better look at them. She gasped once she realized what they were. "Divorce papers?"

Mike nodded, giving her another smile. "I called my lawyer last week and I've had it all written out, all Leah has to do now is sign them."

April got a huge smile on her face, going back to him to give him another kiss. She loved how committed he was to this relationship. And the closer they were getting to leaving, the closer they were to being an actual couple. "I love you." She whispered to him, meaning every single word.

He gave her waist a light squeeze in reciprocation on her feelings. "I love you."

April broke away from him, grabbing his hand, hardly being able to wait for the feeling of being able to do this in public. They walked down the hall, still smiling at each other, but they were torn out of their moment when they heard Conner's favorite shooter game being played.

They both looked to Conner then to each other before splitting up and going to him on different sides of the couch. April took a seat on the loveseat next to him, watching him play. "You know," Mike spoke as he sat down next to Conner who was too caught up in the game while Mike picked up the remote. "The real blood bath starts when your mom catches you playing this."

Mike immediately clicked the power button, turning the entire TV off as Conner sighed, throwing his control to the side of the couch. He just looked up at Mike as Mike put the remote down next to the controller. "You suck."

Mike just grabbed the tongue of his hat, pulling it down a little bit. "Well, you suck worse." April simply smiled as Conner stood up and pouted off. She knew Mike would be a great dad one day. Hopefully to their kid.

April and Mike were standing near Conner, the two falling into their normal sarcastic banter as Ben and Maggie came into the room, talking. When Maggie saw Conner and April, she got a huge smile on her face. "Hey, loves!" April turned to her mom, giving her a smile as she put one hand on April s upper back and the other on Conner's head. "Do you two want to open a gift before we leave?"

April opened her mouth, about to answer when Conner cut her off. "It's not love." He complained, causing April to roll her eyes as the three began walking. "And I'll wait until Grandmother gets here."

April and Mike shared a look, not able to wait until they could tell Grandmother their big news. Well, the whole family their big news. They were nervous for what everyone was going to say, but they knew that everyone here had to know before their secret went public.

"I keep forgetting, sorry." Maggie apologized quickly before looking over to her husband who had just gotten off of his phone.

"Do April and I really have to come with you guys?" April turned around from her family to glance at Mike, the two sharing a sympathetic glance for Conner. "I've been to so many already."

"Being the First Son is hard work, buddy." Ben told him while rubbing his shoulder.

They each grabbed their jackets, Conner looking back to his parents. "Well, can I at least ride with Mike?"

Everyone kind of froze. They all knew April was on the top of the list to ride with Mike and once Conner asked, it was kind of a free for all. "You'll have to ask him." Ben finally spoke, giving Mike a quick glance before looking back down at his paperwork. "He's the boss."

Conner moved towards Mike, April watching her little brother as he approached her boyfriend. "Mike," he asked, looking up at him with the best puppy dog look he could manage. "Can I ride with you?"

April sighed, knowing this was hard for Conner. He hated this trip almost as much as she did. Mike quickly looked at April, not wanting to make any rash decisions without her approval. April gave him a little smile before giving him a little nod. Mike looked at him for a moment, knowing he was going to have rearrange some things. "Alright." He told him before turning around to look at Diaz. "You re riding in the Beast tonight." He told him as his face light up at the fact of being in that car. "Merry Christmas." Mike spoke before turning around.

April gave Diaz an excited smile at his exciting news while Mike went to talk with Forbes. "Excited?" April teased.

"You have no idea." Diaz almost breathed out as April laughed with him.

"Mustang," Mike spoke, capturing April's attention as she turned to look at him talking into the microphone on his watch. "This is Big Top," Mike caught her stare, causing him to smile just a little bit. He knew what that smile meant. It was her own way of saying I love you in public and Mike s smile back was his way of saying it back. "Bringing out the full package."

April got into the car with her parents while Conner got into the car with Mike, Roma and O'Neil. Conner was sitting in the back with O'Neil while Roma drove and Mike sat in the front, controlling the whole show. As soon as they were on the road, Mike spoke through his microphone, going through the last minute need-to-knows before relaxing into his seat.

Mike looked back, seeing Conner leaning forward, noticing the most important thing about that. His seatbelt wasn't on. "Conner, come on," he spoke, bringing his head back to the front. "Scoot back, put your belt on."

Conner thought for a minute on what to do, looking to him with a challenging expression. "What if I don't? You gonna tell April on me?"

"No," Mike challenged right back. "O'Neil here is gonna punch you in the nuts."

They all laughed, but Conner did as he said, Mike smiling, knowing what he was going to ask him next. "You keeping one eighty degrees of awareness."

"I thought it was three sixty."

Mike smirked, glad he picked up on that trick question. "Just checking."

"You're setting me up is what you're doing." Conner complained. "And yes, I've kept enough degrees of awareness to notice you sneaking into April's room last night."

Roma and O'Neil each laughed, but Mike turned around to look at Conner, eyes wide. "Literally everyone knows, Mike." Conner laughed out from the look of his face.

Mike turned back to look at Roma who was still chuckling. "Does everyone really know?"

"Yes." O'Neil and Roma both spoke at the same time.

Mike looked forward, shrugging with a bit of a smile on his face, knowing it was understandable especially during their break. "So," Mike spoke loudly, ready to change the subject. "How many emergency exits in the West Wing?"

"Eight." Conner spoke immediately.

Mike continued to question him, Conner answering every question with perfection as fast as possible. "Not bad." Roma spoke while giving Mike an impressed stare at everything he had taught Conner.

"Kid's got it, huh?" He asked Roma while he continued to shake his head in approval. "Yeah," Mike spoke, almost bragging on him and Conner. "We're gonna make a Secret Service agent out of you yet."

Mike turned back to Conner, giving him a wink, making Conner smile just a little more. That's why Mike had always been his favorite. He made him feel special. "You just have to remember to keep your seatbelt on." O'Neil spoke while looking over to him with a teasing smile.

"That's right." Mike agreed, leaning into his seat with a smile. He knew some people knew about him and April, but he didn't know everyone knew. At least it would be easier coming out in the next few weeks.

* * *

April was sitting on the right side of her father while her mother sat on the left. April had immediately put on her cloud necklace, playing with it as she watched the snow fall down around them. She personally couldn't wait for what was going to happen after the fundraiser. Her whole family curled up on the couch watching Christmas movies with Mike by her side. She could almost feel the warmth of his hand in her own, making a smile tug at her lips.

"Wow, it's really coming down out there." Maggie then heard a very familiar conjoined hum. When she looked to her two family members, both of them nose deep in the files Ben had brought with him. Even when April was a little girl she tried to help her father with his work, but now that she was old enough to understand his work, she was always the first person he called for help. Unfortunately in her mother's situation, April had inherited her father s work ethic. "I'm thinking about shaving my head." She tried out, waiting for what their responses would be.

"That sounds good."

"Yeah, that would look cute, Mom."

Maggie rolled her eyes at her favorite workaholics before looking back out the window. The snow began to fall down a little harder as the wind began to pick up, causing all the cars to begin to slow down. April looked up at the sight of that and then heard her mother say, "Merry Christmas, Mr. President."

Both April and Ben turned to Maggie to see her pushing a gift box to Ben. "You shouldn't have." Ben spoke as he began to open up the gift. April began to smile, knowing exactly what her mother had gotten him. When he finally got it all the way open, he gasped at the look of it. "My god, my grandfather s watch." He whispered before looking to April as she shrugged and then Maggie. "Where did you find this?"

"I have my ways." She spoke, giving April a quick wink.

Ben then leaned forward, getting as close to her face as possible before whispering, "Thank you."

They began to kiss, April turning her head in disgust. "You're so welcome."

"I'm right here!" April complained, the both of them laughing as they pulled away. Ben then put his arm around April, causing her to roll her eyes as he planted a large kiss on her cheek.

Ben turned to see Diaz, still looking excited to ride in the Beast. "Have you ever been to a billionaire's Christmas party before, Diaz?"

"No sir." Diaz spoke, looking to the three in the rearview mirror.

"They're overrated." April complained before her father could say anything respectful.

That's when Ben removed his arm from April's to push her head to the side, and while doing that, he grabbed Maggie's present from where it was hidden. "Oh, my gosh, would you look at that?" He handed her the gift box as she gave him a happy smile. He leaned in, giving her a quick kiss on her cheek as she began to open it up. "Merry Christmas."

"Your presents are next, April, I promise." Maggie spoke, giving her daughter a big smile. It was a great moment and April was laughing until a branch hit the windshield of the car in front of them, causing them to slam their breaks and swerve. The Beast couldn't stop fast enough, slamming into the car.

All Mike could do was watch. "Stop, stop, stop!" Mike yelled on his radio, alerting the others as Roma slowly pushed on the breaks. The Beast swerved, Maggie slamming her head into the window. April watched as the car in front of them flew off the bridge, panic registering in her heart, not remembering if Mike and Conner were in the car in front or behind them. "MIKE!" She screamed as soon as the Beast swerved and hit the bridge, the front part of the car hanging in the air and April's head hitting the side of the car.

Maggie had blood trickling down her cheek from her head hitting the windshield and April's seatbelt had locked, having her torso hanging as most of the weight was tipping them forward and she was too unconscious to sit up. Mike threw the door open, knowing April was in that car. "Take Conner. Mike told O'Neil immediately before hurrying off to save her. Mike felt his heart squeeze in his chest while it felt like an eternity to get to the car.

Maggie looked to her right to see April dangling there unconscious while Ben focused on if Maggie was okay. "April." She moaned out, Ben now turning his attention to his daughter.

"April," Ben spoke, bringing her head up in hopes it would wake her up, but her head just fell back.

That's when Mike showed up on the right side of the door, trying to open it, but it was almost frozen shut. He could see April unconscious in there. She looked dead and he prayed to God she wasn't. "Get on the back!" Mike commanded, trying to balance out the weight and keep the car from falling.

Mike finally pried the door open, using all of his strength. He half sat on the seat, seeing April s lifeless body. "Oh, my god." Mike cried out, his chest tightening while taking her face in his hands, trying to find some sign of life in her, noticing the huge burn mark on her chest from the seatbelt, blood already trickling down it.

"Get her out of here!" Ben screamed, he was only going to focus on April until she got out of the car.

Her eyes fluttered open, Mike gasping once she finally showed she was alive. "Mike." She whispered out.

"Oh, thank god." He whispered, pulling her to his chest and undoing her seatbelt before pulling her out of the car. He took her a couple feet away from the car before setting her down, looking to her before hurrying back to the car. "I'm gonna go back to the car and I'm gonna get your mom and dad out of there."

"No, Mike," she spoke, her voice gravely and dazed as she gripped onto his jacket with amazing strength. "Do-don t leave me."

"I have to, baby." He spoke before pulling her fingers off of him, getting up and running back to the car.

All April could do was watch him, finally starting to come back to her senses. "Mike." She whispered, knowing how dangerous it was for him to get into that car. "Mike!" She screamed, trying to get up and go after him, but O'Neil showed up behind her, grabbing her at the waist. "MIKE!"

Mike got back to the car, taking in what was going on before deciding how to react. Roma had to get that left door open eventually, meaning his only job right now was to get the President out of there. "Sir," Mike spoke, putting a hand out for Ben.

Ben was currently focused on getting Maggie out of there, trying her seatbelt, but it wouldn't budge. "Her seatbelt is stuck!" He yelled to Mike.

Mike looked at the First Lady, knowing she was in a really bad condition, maybe even worse than April's. "Sir, get out of the car, I'll take care of her!"

Ben still wasn't moving. Roma was just barely getting her side door open. "Roma, open the fucking door!" He screamed to him.

"I can't!" He yelled as more agents tried to climb on the trunk of the car. "It's jammed! It's fucking jammed!" He was still trying to get through, just getting his arm through. "Pull her through on your side!"

"Shit." Mike cursed before getting all the way in the car just as the car tipped a little more forward. Both Ben and Mike looked to each other, sharing a fear filled stare before continuing to work on getting Maggie out. Mike pulled out his pocket knife, but the car just continued to sink down.

"Get Maggie!" Ben yelled to him.

Mike sat there for a moment, taking in the situation. The car was going down and it was the President and the First Lady going down with it. He could only save one, and he knew it had to be the President. "Shit." Mike cursed before moving to Ben's seatbelt, cutting it off. "Sir, I m sorry." He spoke before pulling Ben out of the car as Ben tried to hold onto Maggie's hand and pull her out too, but Mike was too strong and Maggie couldn't go anywhere even if it was a bull pulling him out.

The two landed on the road just as the car fell off the bridge, landing on the icy river, killing everyone in the car instantly. Ben straightened up the moment he heard the crash. "NO!" He screamed.

April fell to the ground, O'Neil still holding onto her waist, letting go from shock, letting the reality of the situation sink in. April then began crawling to where Mike laid, the guilt settling into the bottom of his stomach. Secret Service agents had to pull Ben back from going to the edge of the bridge just as Conner got out of the car he was told to stay in. April made it to Mike, looking to him for a moment as tears filled her eyes. She then collapsed into his chest, holding onto him as tight as she could, almost like she was scared the bridge would take him too. Conner looked around at everyone before him, taking in the sight, knowing one very important person was missing. "MOM!"

April and Mike turned to look at Conner just as O'Neil picked him up. April's mouth fell, it truly registering for her that her mother was gone. She remembered how she looked just as the car crashed. She had fear in her eyes and blood running down her face. That was the last image she had of her mother. Not the wonderful nurturer she knew her whole life or her gorgeous smile, but the fear of death plastered over her face.

She buried her head even deeper into Mike as he held onto her, comforting her, but also himself. He let the First Lady die. April's mother. Margret Asher. Someone he had come to know as a friend. She was now dead and he could have saved her. He knew he shouldn't blame himself and he knew he did the right thing, but doing the right thing wasn't always the best thing.

 _ **kgriswold249: I've been super busy lately and I promise you I'm working on that stuff for you! I should be able to get it to you within the next week**_

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Ugh, I know! Camp David breaks my heart. You don't know how heartbroken I was to write this chapter. Maggie will be very missed!**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: Hahaha I knew that would be a fun one to throw in there for you guys. Thanks so much for your continued support!**_

 _ **BakuganShari: Thanks so much for the review, honey! I will be writing a little more on the year and a half between the accident and the attack, but the movie portions should be up by the end of summer**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: Thank you, love! Your reviews always make my day!**_

 _ **Mance: Thanks so much. I've never really thought of writing a Game of Thrones fic, but it is one of my favorite shows. Who knows? Maybe someday. And also thanks for giving my TW story some love. It hasn't been getting much lately.**_

 _ **Ugh, this chapter broke my heart, you guys, but I really hope you like it. We won't be jumping right into the rest of the events with the movie. There's going to be more happening in the year and a half before the attack on the White House meaning more Mike/April moments which I hope you will all enjoy! Remember to review and I hope you all have a wonderful day/night whatever time you're reading this!**_


	12. Let Her Go

Ben hadn't spoken while Conner was taken back to the camp by Roma. April was currently with the doctor, Mike refusing to leave her side through the entire process. She had a concussion which was expected from how the crash had juggled her head. She also needed stitches from the seatbelt lodging itself into her chest.

Mike came out once April fell asleep, Ben lurching to his feet at the sight of him. "How is she? Is she okay?"

"She's fine." Mike told him instantly, knowing he needed all the good news he could get. "A concussion, twenty stitches, but they want to keep her overnight for observation." Ben felt like he could breathe again, but there was still something piercing in his heart. The loss of his wife was still stabbing him with every breath. "Sir," Mike spoke after a long silence. "Why don't you and O'Neil go back to the camp and I'll stay here with April. I'll make sure she's safe, sir."

Ben looked to him, filled with an almost anger. "Well not even that can guarantee her safety anymore." Mike had to bite the insides of his cheeks to keep from showing how much that comment had hurt him.

"Sir," O'Neil spoke as he walked up to the two, sensing some tension. "Let's go. We need you to get some sleep." Ben still hadn't taken his eyes off of Mike. "Mike's got everything here and we can see April tomorrow once she's woken up." Ben finally looked away from Mike, nodding to O'Neil and then following him out.

Mike stood there for a moment once they had left, knowing this was his first time alone since everything had went to shit. He let out an angry scream before kicking the waiting room's table, drawing the attention of everyone around him. He didn't care about them. He cared about April.

"April." he whispered before hurrying back to her room. He couldn't lose her no matter what. He was so close to losing her tonight, but he ended up losing her mother.

When he got back to her room, he took a deep sigh of relief in the fact that nothing had changed. He slowly moved to her bed, pulling up a chair to sit near her. He took her cold hand with wires running down it into his big warm ones. "I can't believe that after everything that happened, I don't have you convincing me none of this is my fault."

He just continued to look down at her, focusing on her breathing. "When I saw you unconscious in that car, it was the scariest moment of my entire life." He moved his hand to her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I thought you were…" Mike trailed off, not finding himself able to finish that sentence. His eyes were watering and he didn't want to think about what would happen if he actually lost her.

Mike felt the first tear run down his cheek, wiping it away with his free hand. "You're gonna tell me over and over again that none of this was my fault, but I feel so guilty, April." He took a deep breath, looking back to her face. "I'm a monster, and I killed your mother." He began to rub her cheekbone, taking deep breaths to keep from breaking down into tears. "I keep playing it over and over again thinking that if I didn't spend so much time getting you out or arguing with Ben. Or even if I would have let you ride with me and Conner. Your mom would have still been alive." His eyes fell, looking at her hands. "April, please forgive me."

* * *

The last thing April and Mike talked about when they got back was the divorce. They had a lot more to deal with. The funeral was one of the scariest events for the entire Secret Service. _Everyone_ was going to be there. Citizens. Allies. Family. Friends. It was going to be a mad house, and the family still wasn't done grieving.

During the procession, military units based close by were leading it, a new and improved Beast carrying President Asher, Conner and April behind the units. Behind the Beast was Maggie's casket being pulled by pure white horses, the casket draped in a huge American flag, followed by the casket of Diaz and Thomson. Roma was driving the Beast with Mike in the passenger's seat. April felt like this was the longest drive of her life. She didn't want to look back, knowing her mother's body was back there, but that was the only thing on her mind.

Mike looked into the rearview mirror, seeing April looking out the left widow, a black veil covering her face and the black dress and stockings matching perfectly with her black heels. He wanted to hold her hand through the whole thing, tell her everything was going to be all right, but he wouldn't be able to do any of that during the funeral.

When they got to the Arlington National Cemetery, April didn't want to get out of the car. She was taking deep breaths as her father and brother got out of the car. She was thinking about the accident all over again. The last thing she saw of her mother was the blood trickling down her face. And the last thing she said to her. She was complaining about her parents kissing around her. The truth was that she would never see that again. Her scar began throbbing as her chest bounced with tears wrecking through her body.

Ben looked around after he had closed the door behind Conner, noticing April wasn't out of her side of the car yet. "Where's April?"

Mike then looked, noticing the same thing. He looked into the window of the car, just barely making out a figure sitting in her seat. Mike put a hand on Ben's shoulder before whispering in his ear, "I'll get her."

Mike opened up the door Ben and Conner had come out of and slid into the car causing buzz around the funeral attendees. All April was doing was looking out the window, continuing to breathe in and out as heavily as possible to keep herself from crying. "April," Mike spoke as he shut the door after him. She just continued to sit there. "April, you're going to have to get out."

"I can't." She spoke in the shakiest voice he had ever heard from her.

He placed his hand on hers, knowing this was going to have to be one of the hardest things she would ever have to do. "You're gonna regret it if you don't." April let out a little sob, breaking Mike's heart. "And you'll have me through it."

April slowly turned to look at him as he squeezed her hand. She knew the windows were tinted and no one would be able to see what she was about to do and it was a good thing. She was going to need this to get her through the next few hours. She leaned forward, placing both of her hands on his face, Mike looking to her as soft as he ever had before she whispered, "I love you."

"I love you." With that, she slowly leaned in, giving him a soft kiss. Mike still felt like this whole thing was his fault, but when she kissed him, it was like some of that guilt faded away. To her, he was this amazing man who could do no wrong and she made him want to be that. She knew he had his flaws, but she was willing to forget all of them to have a lifetime with him.

When they finally pulled away, they stared into each other's eyes for a moment, both feeling a tad better. Like they would be able to get through this together. She took his hand, giving him a small smile which he gave her right back before the two got out of the car.

April walked to her father, giving him a small smile which he gave right back. When she looked off, though, Ben looked to Mike, wondering what would happen if April was the one in Maggie's position. Would he be burying her instead? Ben shook the thought out of his head. He didn't want to think about any of that, but it was still in the back of his brain.

* * *

Megan joined the family at the White House, everyone knowing April's best friend was going to have to be there to help her through it. Maggie's family went off to another portion of the house as April and Conner were just left in confusion. It was almost like they didn't want to talk to the Asher family at all.

Mike walked into the Oval Office where his presence had been requested. He would rather be comforting April and Conner after the funeral. They had just lost their mother and no matter how many times April said she was okay, he knew she wasn't. "You wanted to see me, Mr. President?" Mike asked once he was fully inside of the office.

"Yes, Mike." Ben spoke, finally turning around to look at him. "Please, take a seat." Mike did as he said, automatically clasping his hands together from nervousness. Ben sat across from him, taking all of his courage to finally look him in the eye. "Mike, I brought you in to talk about you…breaking things off with my daughter."

Mike sat there for a moment, wondering whether he should start denying or fighting for their relationship. Mike started to laugh, deciding denying was the first step. "Sir, I don't know – "

"Oh, cut the crap, Mike." Ben spoke, annoyed with the whole façade. "I may not be the most observant, but I'm not stupid."

"Sir," Mike spoke, becoming panicked. "I want you to know it's not just a fling with April." He took a moment, becoming fearful at the thought of losing her. "I love her."

Ben sighed while looking down, knowing how selfish this all was of him. "Yeah, I know, and she loves you."

Mike looked around, making sure this conversation was completely private before continuing, his voice getting very low at the despair taking over him. "Then why do you want it to stop?"

Ben suddenly stood up, not wanting to look Mike in the eye for this next part. "I gave you a direct order on that bridge, Mike."

"Sir," Mike spoke as he stood, about to continue apologizing.

"And you did your job back there, I don't blame you." Mike took a deep breath, finding it really hard to breath in that moment. "But I realized something on that bridge." Mike was too scared to ask. He would be fine going his whole life not knowing what he was about to say. "That no matter what the stakes, in the end, I am the top priority. Not April. Not Conner. Me."

"With all due respect sir," Mike started still struggling to breath. "I don't see how any of this has to deal with my relationship with April."

Ben finally turned back to him, taking a deep breath. "So if it was April instead of Maggie, would you have done the same thing?" He let those words sit with him, feeling his heart break at the thought. "Mike, you're a good man and I know you two love each other, but please, Mike, don't bring my daughter into something she won't be able to survive."

Mike felt his heart like a weight, his entire body shrinking down, knowing that Ben really was right. If he loved April, he would let her go. "How do I go about it?" His voice was hoarse, trying to keep the tears from falling. They had gotten so close to a beautiful life together, but it was all ending in shatters.

* * *

So, the Asher family and Megan collected in April's room minus Ben who went straight to the Oval Office once they got back. April was obviously worried about her father, but she also had her brother to look after. Grandmother Asher was running her hands through Conner's hair as April laid on Megan. "It was a nice service." Grandmother spoke almost absentmindedly.

April wanted to be mourning the death of her mother as everyone else was, but only one thing was going through her mind right now. "I wonder what Mike and Dad are talking about."

Conner looked up at her, his eyes starting to flame with anger. "God!" He screamed while getting off of Grandmother's lap, everyone jumping at his sudden outburst. "Don't you ever think of anyone else besides yourself?!"

"Conner," April tried, but Conner was angry and filled with grief.

"All you care about is you and your stupid boyfriend and your stupid secret which is not so secret!" April's eyes widened, not realizing he knew. Or the fact that anyone knew. "Mom died and that's still all you're talking about!" April got up, trying to go to him, but Conner pulled away before running off. "You're so selfish!" He called before slamming the door shut.

They all sat there for a moment before April stood up, going after her brother. "Oh, April," Grandmother called. "He didn't mean it!"

The door slammed behind her, leaving just Grandmother and Megan sitting on April's bed. "So, dear," Grandmother began, looking over at Megan. "Do you get high?"

All Megan could do was look at her. She knew Grandmother Asher was a wild card from April's stories, but she didn't expect this. "Who are you?"

April hurried down the hall, not quite sure where Conner had went, but she knew she had to find him. As she ran, she ran directly into Mike. "There you are!" She exclaimed, she began explaining everything that just happened, but the only thing Mike could do was look at her face. He was memorizing every inch of it, feeling like this was going to be the last time he ever saw it. "Mike?" She questioned, tearing him back to what she was saying. "Are you even lis – "

"Leah and I aren't getting a divorce."

April blinked a little, not expecting something so random to come from the story of Conner running off like that. "Well, obviously not now, my mother just died. We have to give it some time – "

"April," Mike spoke, the same bland tone he used before.

That's when it all hit her. He wasn't just talking about within the next month. "Oh," she breathed out, trying to keep herself standing upright. "You mean…" She had to pause, knowing she wouldn't be able to get through the sentence if she didn't. "Ever."

All they could do was look at each other, not coming up with any words, April still numb from what she had just heard. "I'm sorry, April."

April's breath began to quicken, all of this just hitting her so hard. First her mother and now Mike. "Why?" It was the only thing she could say. That was the only thing running through her mind.

"I just…" It only hurt Mike more to see her reaction to the news. He knew it was going to hurt, but he could physically see her heart break the longer they stood there. "I can't."

"Did I do something?" April stepped forward, but Mike took a step back from her, causing the first tear to fall down her cheek. "Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"No, April," Mike spoke in the best assuring voice he could manage, finding just looking at her was breaking his heart. "It's not – "

"Please," April spoke, now getting angry with the whole thing. "Do not give me the 'it's not you, it's me' speech."

"I'm getting transferred to the Treasury Department."

April wiped a tear from her face as she shook her head. "Because of me?" When she looked back to Mike's poker face, she rolled his eyes. "God, you just can't take two seconds out of your day to ignore me?"

"April, I am so – "

She then struck him across the face, Mike surprised she actually did it. He looked back to her, April taking deep breaths as tears continued to flow down her cheeks. She finally looked down, not being able to look Mike in the eye anymore. "You should go."

Mike lingered for just another second, debating on taking it all back, but he knew that he had to do what was best for her. As he began to sulk to the stairs, he turned back, looking at her standing there as she cried. "I really do love you April."

She looked up at him, her deep breaths taking a toll on her and more tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. He took an extra moment to study her face before turning back to the steps and continuing down them. After he was gone, April shut her eyes while tears ran through her whole body. "Hey, April," she heard Megan call from behind her, but she was too overcome with grief to say anything. "Conner came back to your room to apolo – "

That's when Megan noticed her face. "Hey," Megan spoke, knowing this wasn't just about her mother or Conner. This was something else. "What happened?"

April was gasping from tears as she threw her arms around Megan's neck, not knowing what else to do. Megan instantly hugged her back, but she just didn't know what to do. She didn't know why she was crying, but she knew one thing. She had to comfort her. No matter what happened, she had to be there for her.

* * *

On Mike's last day, April refused to come out of her room. She just sat there, not answering anyone's calls, not doing anything but sit there and think about what she was going to do without Mike. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door, but she didn't respond, she just continued to look up at the ceiling while tears fell from the sides of her face. The door opened minus her approval of the person coming in, and when he did come in, he inhaled a sharp breath at the look of her. "April?"

April's eyebrows knitted together before sitting up in her bed, looking to who was standing in her doorway. Mike slowly closed the door behind him while April looked him up and down, wiping her tears away when he wasn't looking. "What do you want?"

Mike turned back to her, taking a deep breath before moving towards her. "I wanted to say goodbye."

April shook her head, the rain pounding on the side of her window getting harder. "I don't want to talk to you."

All Mike could do was stand there. He knew she was devastated, but he expected a goodbye at the very least. "April," he started.

"I don't wanna hear some last ditch effort of how much you love me and that you're doing this for me because that's bullshit." All Mike could do was look at her. "That whole 'if you love her let her go' thing is such bullshit." More tears continued to fall down her cheeks and Mike just stood there, wishing he could take all of her pain away. "If you really truly loved me then you would stick by my side through this."

"I know it doesn't make sense." He told her while moving to sit on her bed next to her. "But I wish I could stay here more than anything."

April moved her hands to his cheeks, beginning to play with his hair with her right hand. "Then stay here." April's nose was getting red from crying and she had bags under her eyes, but Mike still found her the most attractive woman in the world. "Stay here with me."

Mike leaned forward, taking his time to look into those gorgeous eyes he was scared he would never see again before putting his lips to her's, giving her a passionate kiss. April kissed him with all of her might almost as if that would make him stay, but she knew Mike. And she knew this was strictly a goodbye. When they pulled away, Mike continued to stare into her eyes, taking a deep breath when their foreheads fell to each other. "I love you."

April gasped from the tears, hating how he said it. Like it was the last time. "I love you."

Then before he could convince himself to stay, he got up and hurried out of her bedroom door. April shut her eyes, letting the tears fall freely now as she fell back onto her bed, holding her favorite pillow to her chest, hoping it would reduce the pain of her breaking heart.

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: You are the strongest of us all then**_

 ** _MisfitCarter: Yes. It's just rain in this indoor place. Not tears!_**

 ** _Kagome309: Thank you, sweetie!_**

 ** _I'm not crying, you're crying. I just want to give you guys a thank you for getting me to fifty reviews (really 49, but hey, close enough) in eleven chapters! You guys are the absolute best. I just want to let you guys know you can follow me on Tumblr at janaespecter14 and I post some edits for my stories there and give updates and stuff like that. I only have one Everything New edit on there so you can look through the "April Asher" tag on my page to find it. I hope you all enjoyed even if this chapter was pretty emotional and shorter compared to my last one. Thank you guys so much for reading and remember to review!_**


	13. Friends

_**Six Months Later – June**_

Megan came out of the shadows of the tent, holding up a dream catcher to show it off to April. "Look at how cute this is."

"Oh my gosh!" April spoke, going for the price tag. Before she could even read the numbers, Troy picked it up from Megan's hands, putting it in their basket. April gave him an annoyed look, but she couldn't help this bright smile on her face. "Stop it."

"I can't buy my girlfriend things?" He taunted before wrapping his arm around April's shoulders.

"Keep him." Megan loudly whispered into April's ear, loud enough for Troy to hear.

April rolled her eyes at her best friend before looking back to Troy. She didn't expect any of this to happen. After Mike, she didn't expect to fall for anyone ever again, but Troy was there at the right time and he was so sweet. She liked him, but she knew she would probably never fall for him, but then again, she probably wouldn't fall for anyone again. Not as hard as she fell for Mike.

* * *

Leah's arm was looped through Mike's arm as they walked through the flea market. "I like having you home more often." she whispered as Mike smiled at what she said.

He hated it. It had been six months since he was technically fired and he now had a desk job at the Treasury. He missed his old job, but mostly, he missed April. He was going to give up everything for her. He had the divorce papers written out, he was going to sit down with Leah and explain he had fallen in love with someone else, but then the accident happened.

April begged for him to stay, but after what Ben told him, he just couldn't. It broke both of their hearts, but he had to do it. Although, not a day went by that he didn't think of her or how she was doing.

* * *

Megan was fiddling with her new camera, testing out the lens. During the spring semester, she had really gotten into photography. She took one photography class because she needed a fine arts credit and ended up falling in love with it. She put the camera up to her eye, hoping to catch some artsy picture of all the people walking through, but she ended up seeing someone she hadn't seen in a long time. "Holy crap!"

"What?" April asked, appearing right next to Megan, Troy still checking out the rugs.

Megan looked to April, not at all sure how she would take this, but she couldn't just not let her know. "Mike!"

Megan pointed to where she had seen him, April following her finger to where the love of her life was standing. April felt herself stop breathing, watching him lean to the left with his right hand in his right pocket. His hair was getting longer, she figured he would decide to grow it out now that he didn't have to keep it military grade short. She could see that dazzling blue from where she stood, his cheeks still a little chunky, not matching the rest of his toned, muscular body.

That last kiss they shared was lingering on her lips, she could feel the pulsation and smell his scent all over again. She still hadn't taken a breath, thinking of it all. "Dude, breathe." Megan spoke, watching her best friend struggle to even take the breath in.

"That's really him." She spoke breathlessly, trying to focus on her breathing. How could she though when Mike Banning was right there?

Megan looked to April, seeing every inch of her face want for Mike, so she was going to do something drastic. She cupped her hands to magnify her voice before calling out, "MIKE!"

April immediately turned to her friend, talking negatively while Mike turned to where he had heard his name, seeing the back of a brunette head and Megan arguing. There was only unnatural brunette she would be around was, "April?"

April turned to look at him, her breath hitching at the same time his did. Neither of them knew _what_ to do. Should they say something? Ignore each other? Run? April's heart ached thinking on how he blamed himself, the day he was transferred. She thought about all the crying she did, the days spent locked in her room mourning for her dead mother and her lost lover.

Ben's words just kept running through his mind. _Please, Mike, don't bring my daughter into something she won't be able to survive._ That didn't mean they couldn't be friends, did it?

Mike flashed her a smile, making her heart stop beating. He began to walk over, April turning to Megan in a panic, Megan seeming to have the same look on her face. "Dump him."

"What?" April asked in complete confusion, turning all the way around to look at her.

"Troy." April suddenly gave her an annoyed look as Mike got even closer. "Dump him. Pick Mike."

"This isn't the _Bachelor_." April hissed.

"April," Mike repeated, finally reaching her.

April turned around, not at all sure how to act. She wanted to punch him, yell at him for leaving her when she needed him the most. She wanted to cry to him, tell him how much she missed him. She wanted to jump in his arms and kiss him, tell him how much she loved him.

Instead of all of those things, she settled on a warm smile and a hug. "Hey." She almost sang as she moved to hug him. The moment they hugged, she had to stop herself from kissing him.

"Hey." Mike said back, returning her hug, remembering their passion on Thanksgiving Day. When they pulled away, Mike stared at her, remembering how great her lips tasted. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Megan with a big cheesy smile, knowing she was the one of the only people who knew about their affair.

"Hey, Megan." he spoke in an almost tired voice, but in all honestly, he missed how nosy and inappropriate she was.

"She gave him a head nod with her arms crossed. "What's up, Mike?"

He shook his head at her before leaning in to give her a side hug. "Some things never change."

"I'm a wonder." Megan spoke, looking up, very full of herself in that moment.

"Hello?" They all turned to see Leah coming up from behind Mike.

April immediately stiffened. She had never met her before, but she had seen her once through Leah and Mike's closet shutters. Although, April knew she was the "other woman" in all of this. She was shaking. How was she supposed to introduce herself? _Hello, I'm April, your husband fucked me in your own bed while you were saving lives at work._

Mike was obviously terrified too. He wanted to please them both, but he just didn't know how. He put his hand on Leah's back, April now really feeling what it was like to be the other woman. She knew no matter what he felt for her, she was always going to be the side chick. "April, this is Leah. Leah, April."

April leaned forward to shake Leah's hand as Megan looked back and forth at the two, knowing the same thing April and Mike knew. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise." Leah told her with a big smile. "And I'm so sorry for your loss. I don't know if it's too late…" she trailed off when she saw the look on both April and Mike's faces. "I'm sorry."

April shook her head, not wanting Leah to feel guilty. She should be the one to feel guilty. "Nothing to apologize about."

Mike looked April up and down, noticing she had let her bangs grow out. "How have you been, Showers?"

April smiled at her nickname she hadn't heard from his mouth in months. Everyone else around them was confused, but that name was everything to April. "I'm fine."

That's when Troy came up behind her. Mike gave him a confused look, April practically jumping when she noticed him. "Mike," she spoke, putting her arm around Troy's waist as he put his around her shoulders. Mike stiffened then, knowing what she was going to say before she even said a thing, feeling like a knife was in his heart. "This is my boyfriend, Troy."

Mike swallowed before leaning forward to shake his hand, April watching Mike better than anyone. "Hey," Mike spoke. "I was in the Secret Service, watching over April."

April smiled a little bit as all the dirty jokes began running through her head. "You're Mike." Troy spoke with a nod as they let go of each other's hands. "April has told me so much about you."

When no one was looking, Mike gave April a confused look, wondering if she had told him _everything_. She just shook her head quickly like it was the most obvious thing in the world before looking back to Megan and Troy. "We were just out doing some shopping." April added.

"Same." Leah and Mike spoke in unison. April gulped. They knew each other so well, and they always would. They were married and her and Mike weren't. Mike then turned to Leah, noticing the sad expression on April's face. "You know, April and Megan are working on getting into the nursing program."

"That is fantastic!" Leah spoke enthusiastically while looking back and forth at the girls. "There are actually some openings in my hospital for nursing assistants."

"What do you know?" Megan commented while turning to look at April. "Nursing assistants are being hired at Leah's hospital."

"Yeah," April spoke, looking over to her, slightly angry.

"You two should apply." She spoke again, not picking up on what Megan was finding so funny. With all of Mike's talk of Leah, this wasn't what she expected. She expected her to be cold and unreasonable, but she was sweet and warm. She felt herself hating Mike. Hating him and herself for doing this to Leah. "I could be your RN."

"That would be great!" April exclaimed, honestly wanting to get out of this situation as quick as possible. "Well, we should go. We have a test coming up we need to study for."

"Well, it was nice meeting you." Leah put her hand out, April taking it in hers almost immediately. When April looked at her, she felt like she was leaving the contestant that beat her on a game show. A game show Leah didn't even know she had won yet, but everyone seemed to know April had lost.

When they finally broke the handshake, she looked to Mike who had just broken a hug with Megan. The two looked at each other, knowing that if they didn't hug, everyone would know something was up. April almost fell into his hug, taking a deep breath in, missing his scent and the feeling of his arms around her. Mike missed how perfectly short she was. How their heights just perfectly fit together. How her hugs were almost therapeutic.

When they finally pulled apart, April held onto his arms for a bit longer, looking into his eyes with a smile. Mike looked to her, knowing they couldn't get back together, but they could still be friends. "I'll call you and we'll hang out." Mike told her with a nod.

April smiled just a little bit, feeling almost like they were back together. "I'd like that."

When she finally let go of his arms, she felt like she was breaking up with him all over again, but there was no way she could let any of them standing there know. "Bye."

"Bye." Mike told her, lingering a look at her a little longer before turning around with his arm going around Leah, that one thing hurting April more than anything.

"She wasn't what I expected." Leah told Mike, leaning into him a little more.

"Who?" Mike asked, leaning into her a little more. "April?"

"Yeah," she spoke with a shrug. "I just expected a spoiled rich girl."

"April's not like that." Mike spoke, defending her with an edge in his voice.

"Yeah," Leah spoke with a nod. "I know, but there's just some things you expect being in that position of power."

Mike looked to her, almost irritated and most definitely offended. He decided to ignore it and not talk about April Asher for the rest of their time shopping. Although, when Mike turned around to look at April, she looked so happy with her new boyfriend. He was happy that she was able to move on from him, but he couldn't disguise the fact that it hurt.

* * *

"Wow," Troy spoke as the group walked away. "He wasn't what I expected."

"What did you expect?" April asked.

Troy scoffed. "I don't know, some brain dead macho man."

April and Megan both looked to him, annoyed with what he had just said. This was Mike he was talking about. "Mike isn't like that." April defended.

"It's just something you expect from people who look like that." April looked to him, almost disgusted that he would say something like that about anyone, but it stung even more that it was Mike. April then turned around to look at Mike with his arm around Leah. She sighed, knowing Mike broke up with her and he chose to be with Leah. He deserved all the happiness in the world and if she was what made him happy, then he should be with her, but all of her wanted him to be with her.

* * *

Mike was sitting in his car, ready to drive home from work, but he just kept thinking about meeting April yesterday. There was nothing wrong with the two being friends. Ben didn't say anything about the two being friends. He looked at his phone, going to the number he hadn't looked at in ages. "Come on, Mike." He whispered to himself. "It's just April." He looked out the window, becoming suddenly nervous again. "The love of your life that the President of the United States made you leave.

On the other side of the spectrum, April was looking through the kitchen, trying to find something to eat since it was Monica's day off. She remembered there were pizza rolls in the freezer for days like this, making her get suddenly happy. That's when her phone began to ring. She looked to the caller ID, smiling a little bit. She couldn't believe it. She had saw him yesterday and now he was calling. She didn't expect them to get back together, but at least now she knew that he missed her as much as she missed him. "Hello?"

"April," Mike spoke, all of his nerves going haywire when he heard her voice.

"Hey, Mike." She chuckled out a little bit. She could hear it in his voice.

"What's up?" April furrowed her eyebrows together. She knew Mike. He wasn't one to call to catch up. When he called, it was to gather information, apologize or make plans. His phone conversations never lasted more than a few minutes.

"Um, not much. I'm about to eat. Why? What do you want?"

Mike chuckled a little, remembering how much they would flirt together. "Why do you assume I want something?"

"Because I know you, Mike." She challenged, adjusting the hold she had on her phone while Mike continued to smile through the phone. "Now I'll ask you again, what do you want?"

"I wanted to know if we could hang out sometime soon." April almost dropped the phone out of her hands. She couldn't believe this was happening. "You know, as friends."

"Um," That last sentence took her off guard, but they were friends before, they could be friends again. In all honestly, she missed him being in her life, and if he could be in her life again as friends, she would take it. "Yeah, that'll be fun."

"Alright," Mike sighed out. There was an awkward silence between the two, neither of them knowing how to continue.

"I have tickets to an art gala tomorrow, Troy can't come, wanna go?"

"Yeah, sure." Mike was getting excited. He was actually having plans to hang out with April which was something he hadn't done in a long time.

"Black tie event."

"Black tie event." He repeated, already knowing what he was going to wear, not like he had a million and one choices like April.

"I'll text you the address and we can meet there."

"It's a date." They let a pause take over, knowing how awkward it was to use that word in their very complicated situation. "Not a date." He corrected quickly. "Just a…" He could hear April chuckle on the other end of the phone, making him get a smirk, realizing she was enjoying listening to him fumble for words. "You know what I mean."

"Goodbye, Mike."

Mike took a moment, smiling at her. He really did miss her. "Goodbye, April."

When April hung up the phone, she looked down at the granite in the island in the kitchen, smiling to herself. Then she remembered she had nothing to wear.

* * *

"Oh my god." Megan exclaimed as April tried on her third dress. "You're going on a date with him."

"It is not a date." April groaned, fixing up the dress before she showed it off to Megan.

When she turned around, Megan's eyes got wide at the sight of it. "Wow, someone's trying hard."

April looked down to her chest, noticing her cleavage almost popping out of the dress. "I knew it was too booby."

"Way too booby for a married man."

April turned to look at her best friend, sighing and going back to her dresses with her head down, thinking about it all again. "Why do you keep throwing that in my face?"

"Because I was there when he left without a reason." Megan spoke, crossing her arms with a deep sigh. "And when you cried yourself to sleep without him." April turned back to her, biting her lip, remembering all about those devastating months, about how she was just getting back on her feet when he had rushed back into her life. "I don't want to see you hurt like that again."

April turned back to her with a new dress held up to her body, deciding to ignore her. "What about his one."

"April," Megan complained. "Promise me that nothing will happen between the two of you until he is completely, one hundred percent divorced."

April hurried to her friend, sitting down with her, holding her hands with the dress still lying on her body. "I promise you and myself I won't."

Megan smiled right back to her, looking her over before coming up with a final decision. "Get the little black dress out."

April's eyes got wide at that suggestion. "Are you sure that's not too sex – "

"It's not too sexy. I said don't do anything until he's divorced, I didn't say you couldn't speed up the process with your super-hot body." She hurried to her closet, pulling out the dress. "Just don't look into his eyes for longer than five seconds, I don't need that romantic brain to start falling for that tall, dark and damaged." April rolled her eyes, getting off the bed and looking to the dress. "This is going to kill him." April threw her head back in laughter before taking it from her and hurrying to put it on.

* * *

April looked through the art exhibits, pausing, taking in the silence the two shared to form some opinions about the different pieces. Really though she didn't want her and Mike to get talking about the old times. She knew Megan was right. Until he was an official man back on the market, nothing could happen between them. "That one's nice." Mike commented before taking a sip of his wine. "Very modern."

April began to chuckle, knowing it was more abstract than anything. "You have no idea what the hell you're talking about, do you?"

"No." Mike chuckled through another sip of wine. "I really don't."

"You know we could have done something else, right?" April turned to look at him, noticing he was still looking at the painting. "Something, you know," She thought back to their first date, getting a big smile. "Like burgers and beers."

Mike smiled down into his wine, knowing just what she was getting at. "You make me sound so uncultured." April smiled before looking back to the painting when Mike turned his head to her. He didn't know if she did it on purpose, but that black dress was killing him. It hugged every single curve she had and the top was respectable, but still held a fair amount of cleavage. He also really loved her hair like that. It wasn't all stuck in one place. It was free to fall down all the different sides of her face, shoulders, back. It made her look free and he loved that look on her.

"So tell me what a perfect night with me would consist of." April asked, looking around to make sure no one was watching before sipping some of Mike's wine.

Mike couldn't help all the dirty thoughts running through his brain. The perfect night with her would include a lot of bondage and foreplay. "I'll let you know when I fine it."

April turned back to him, taking a deep breath. This was so hard. Being "just friends" with someone you're in love with is so hard. Mike was her best friend. Always would be, but she missed lacing her hand through his. She missed kissing him until she was out of breath.

A few of the painters around them began packing up their works, catching April's attention to her surroundings again. "I think they're closing up. We should probably go."

"Yeah." Mike spoke, doing his safety checks before putting his arm on her back and guiding her out as April smiled to herself. Some things never change.

When they finally got outside, April began to draw into herself at how cold it had gotten. Mike looked to her, immediately beginning to take off his jacket for her. "You're cold."

"No." She refused instantly this whole thing starting to feel like an awkward first date, fumbling limbs and all.

"I insist." He spoke, wrapping the jacket around her before she could protest. When it was finally on her shoulders, he took a moment, looking in the eyes he hadn't been that close to in so long. They were so gorgeous like perfect little diamonds. April looking into his too, seeing the sea of damage swirling in the color, wanting with her all to jump in and fix it. That's when she remembered Megan's rule not to look into his eyes for longer than five seconds.

She broke away quickly, looking in the other direction before pushing a strand behind her ear. Mike did the same, looking off quickly, eyes cursing him for doing so. "I'm sorry." She spoke, fingers still fiddling with her hair.

"My fault." He spoke, throwing his hands up in defense.

April finally turned back to him as he did, smiling brightly. She hadn't left yet and she already wanted to see him again. "We should do this again." She told him, still keeping her smile.

"Maybe not an art gala next time." He spoke while walking her back to the car O'Neil was waiting out of.

"Burgers and beers." She told him, turning back to look at him as he rolled his eyes.

"Maybe something in the middle."

When they reached the car, O'Neil immediately stuck his hand out, the two hugging each other and sharing a small greeting as April just watched Mike. With every move he made, she wished she had him again. Mike finally turned back to her, giving her a smile before leaning in for a hug. "See you, Showers."

She rolled her eyes, but part of her made her hold on tighter because she was leaving him. "Later, Banning." She whispered before breaking away from him and climbing into the car.

Mike was the perfect gentleman, not leaving his spot until the moment the car was out of sight. April threw her head back before pushing her hair back from the beginning of her hairline. "Oh, I know that look." O'Neil retorted, looking to her in the rearview mirror.

She rolled her eyes at him, looking out the window with a sigh. "Oh, just keep driving, O'Neil."

He chuckled a little, noticing what she was still wearing. "Nice jacket."

That's the minute she realized she still had it on. She smiled to herself while leaning further into her seat and wrapping the jacket around her even further as O'Neil smiled to himself. It was only a matter of time before those two got together again.

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: I know! It will be a while before I will be over the death of someone that talented. Sorry I had to make you cry double.**_

 _ **Kagome309: Mike needs to pull it together. Thanks for your review, sweetie!**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: Thank you! Your review literally had me smiling all day.**_

 _ **Monse: Hehehe, thanks**_

 ** _MisfitCarter: I'm sorry I messed with your emotions, but I just had to. I hope you liked some of the April/Mike action in this chapter. And I hope it doesn't rain too much on your face._**

 ** _Hey, guys. This chapter just came out really quick. I just couldn't stop writing once I started. I was drunk last night and still trying to write so you know there was a lot of editing today. I hope you all liked it and remember to review! See ya soon!_**


	14. Independence Day

_**July 4th**_

April looked at the street she was parked on, not seeing Mike anywhere in sight, so she hit the horn in a pattern in hopes that would make him come out of his house faster. After that he finally walked out with a smirk on his face until he saw her in the driver's seat. "What the hell are you doing, Asher?"

"I struck a deal with Roma that I could drive my car again if he stays directly behind me, now come on, Banning."

Mike looked over to Roma in the car behind her as he just shrugged, not really knowing how she talked herself into that deal. "You're a tricky one, Showers." He told her as he climbed into the passenger's seat.

"Oh, shut up." She spoke as she put the car in drive and began driving, beginning to scare Mike. She really wasn't the best on the road.

He was sitting in the passenger's seat, trying to break with her when she was scaring him and holding onto different portions of the car while making sure his seatbelt was as secure as possible. When April saw him, she rolled her eyes. "Stop being so dramatic."

"I will be when we get there alive."

April rolled her eyes at him again before looking back to the road. "So, where's Leah?"

The two talked of the other's significant other often as a kind of anchor to keep them reminded that there was no way they were working out anytime soon. "Um, I don't know she's at one of her friend's houses."

April almost slammed on the breaks after that. "And you're not with her?"

"She told me I could hang out with you instead."

"Oh," April spoke as she began to shake her head with her eyes shut, not being able to believe how stupid Mike could be. "No, that's not what she meant."

"What do you mean 'that's not what she meant'? That's exactly what she told me."

April shut her eyes. Mike always was so stupid when it came to reading women. "No, honey, she meant that you could go with me, but in all honestly she wanted you to go with her."

"What?" Mike asked, almost panicked. "So now I'm in trouble?"

"Big time." April spoke with a nod while Mike threw his hands in the air.

"Why can't you girls just say what you want?"

April rolled her eyes before turning to look at him. "Why are men too stupid to pick up on a simple tone of voice que?"

"Oh, don't turn this on me, I'm in trouble because of you."

"Whoa bro." April spoke while taking her hands off the wheel quickly before putting them back on, knowing it would freak Mike out. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, seeing his freaked out face and smiling.

Mike just looked at her for a minute while shaking his head. "You spend too much time with Megan."

Shortly after, April found a parking spot, turning to Mike and smiling. "We're finally here."

"Thank god I don't have to be in this car any longer." Mike spoke, quickly undoing his seatbelt and hurrying out of the car.

April angrily pushed her car door open and hurried to Mike, acting like she was about to punch him. They began dancing around each other trying to find out who was gonna dish out the first fake swing and how the other was going to block it. "There you two are!"

They both turned to see Megan advancing towards them, the two automatically standing up straight again. Each of them took their turns hugging, but after April was done, she was looking around the space near her. "Where's Troy?"

Megan looked to her after she broke out of her hug with Mike. "He didn't tell you?" April shrugged, confused at what had happened. "He text me saying he couldn't come."

"Did he say why?" April asked, completely confused on why he would tell Megan, but not her.

"No." Megan spoke while shaking her head. "I thought he would have told you before he told everyone else."

Suddenly April's phone went off and she pulled it out, her face fell, making Mike hurt a little. "Well, I know now."

Mike was angered that he would treat her that way. He wanted to go find out where he was and give him a piece of his mind, but he wasn't April's boyfriend. There was nothing he could really do. "What a fuck head." Megan finally spoke, breaking the silence.

That's when he remembered that he and April were friends. He could say something as her friend. "Do you want me to find him and talk to him?" Mike suddenly asked.

"What?" April asked, the question throwing her completely off guard. "No, just forget about it you guys, we came here to have a good time and watch the fireworks. Don't let him ruin our good time."

"But he – "

"Don't let him ruin our time!" April yelled, cutting Megan off, making her throw her hands up in self-defense.

"Whoa bro."

"Stop it." Mike demanded.

* * *

The three of them found a nice spot on the grass, spreading out their blanket before the place could get insanely crowded. Mike and April went off to get the group some drinks while Megan held the spot. Of course Roma was there to follow at least ten feet behind her, so they were never really alone together which was good. It would stop them both of thinking up something stupid. "Did you ever see about getting tickets to that band you like?" Mike asked as April held the drinks for both her and Megan.

"No." April complained. "Well, I looked into it and when the tickets went on sale, but a lot of hipsters are into that band and there's a lot of hipsters in Washington so it got sold out really fast."

Mike smiled at her comment as the two continued walking. April took a sip of her drink before looking back to Mike. "Are you worried about what's going to happen with Leah?"

Mike simply shrugged while shaking his head. "She'll get over it." April opened her mouth, about to say something, but stopped herself. "What were you going to say?"

"Nothing." April sighed out like she was irritated with him.

"What?" Mike asked, getting in front of her with a confused face as April rolled her eyes, an irritated smile pulling on her lips. "Now you're mad at me?"

"Yeah," April spoke obviously. "I'm mad at you." His face just twisted into even more confusion. "Leah is a nice person and she does not deserve what you do to her."

Mike chuckled while shaking his head and looking away from her. "You don't know the Leah I know."

"What did she do?" April asked, getting in Mike's face again. "What did she do that was so bad that made you hate her this much? That made you want to cheat on her."

"Okay," Mike spoke, looking to her, now getting even madder than she was. "Let's get one thing straight, I didn't cheat on her out of spite."

"Well, it sure feels like it with how you ended everything."

Mike looked around, noticing all the people before pulling her behind one of the food tents for some privacy, knowing they couldn't have anyone listening in on this conversation. When they finally got to a private place, they each put their drinks down in the grass so they could talk efficiently. "April," Mike spoke as calmly as he could in this situation. "You were not used to get at my wife."

April looked him up and down, her chest rising and falling heavily, feeling every little curve in his fingers that were gripping her arm. Her eyes rose back to his face, knowing she was about to challenge him, and he loved a good challenge. "Then prove it."

He then pulled her in for a hungry kiss they had both been craving since their last. April was gripping at his arms so hard that she was probably leaving scratch marks. Mike cradled her head in his hand, dipping her neck in further to kiss her even better. Mike and April both knew this wasn't right. Especially when Leah and April were actually developing something of a friendship, but they just missed their hands on each other's skin.

Mike finally pulled away, his lips lingering as they pulled apart. "Leah cheated on me first." He spoke it so quick, both of them had to replay the sound in their heads again to make sure they heard right. "And ever since then – "

"That's the Leah I don't know? The one who did the same thing you're doing right now?"

"April," Mike tried.

"Stay with your wife, Mike. I get that I'm some sort of distraction to you, but leave me out of it." April shook her head at him, pulling away from his grasp on her. "I can be your friend, but I don't think I can ever be your girlfriend again."

And with that, April picked the drinks back up and walked off, not really caring if Mike followed or not. Mike just continued to stand there, thinking about everything he was protecting her from by staying with Leah. The press. Leah. Himself. Was it all really worth it? By protecting her, he was just causing her more pain.

When he finally got back to their spot, April and Megan were laughing and talking like nothing happened. April turned to Mike with a smile as if nothing phasing her like it should have from their last conversation. He smiled back at her, wishing he could have that like she did. She could totally ignore something ever happened, but the only thing he could think about was that kiss.

* * *

A little after midnight, they began to head back home, April having to drop Mike back off at his place. The car ride was silent, Mike awkwardly looking out his window while April kept her eyes on the road. She finally took a deep breath, the silence killing her. "I'm sorry for what I said back there."

Mike shook his head, still looking out the window. "Don't be. It needed to be said."

April tightened her grip on the wheel, her breath just getting deeper. "So that's what we're gonna be? Strictly friends?"

Mike shook his head, finally turning to look at her. "Nothing more."

April sat there for a moment, thinking what he had said over before deciding to pull over and unbuckle her seatbelt. "April," Mike spoke, confused by what she was doing. "I live a few blocks away."

April took a deep breath, building up the courage. "Fuck it." She whispered before climbing on top of him and giving passionate kisses all over his face. Mike kissed her back and he wanted to continue it, but he just respected her way too much to let this be some sloppy night she was going to regret. "April, stop." He spoke through breaths. "We can't do this."

"Don't you want me?" She just sounded so hurt and desperate in that moment. Almost like the day he left her. "Don't you love me?"

"I do." Mike spoke, still struggling to push her off. "But not like this."

She immediately stopped, pushing her hair back while looking him up and down again. "I don't get it." She spoke, shaking her head. "I don't get you sometimes."

Mike chuckled. "Yeah, well if you knew what I knew."

April furrowed her eyebrows at him with a bit of a smile, wondering what he was getting at. "I broke the friend rule."

Mike shrugged, smiling at her again. He really wished they would be able to get back to normal sometime soon. Actually, better than normal. "I'll let it slide."

April smiled, touching his face one last time before climbing off of him and getting into the driver's seat before beginning the drive to Mike's house again, both having a little smile on their face. They had to work out sometime.

* * *

When Mike walked into the house, he expected for Leah to be in bed and he wouldn't have to start a fight, but she was there. Waiting for him. Almost like she was just wanting to fight. April's words ran back through his head and just by the tension stinking up the air, he knew this was going to be a huge. "Hey." Mike told her, not knowing what else to say.

Leah just crossed her arms, keeping her glare in his direction. "How was your night?"

"Leah," Mike sighed out, rubbing his head with his hand. This would be the second woman mad with him tonight. "Can we not do this tonight?"

"Then when else are we gonna do it?" Leah threatened, standing up now. "Because you spend every second you can with April."

Mike took his hand off his face, throwing it in the air. "She's my friend. I can't hang out with my friends?"

"You can hang out with your friends." She spoke with a shrug. "I have no problem with you hanging out with your friends, but when you want to hang out with a pretty twenty year old more than your wife, that's a problem."

Mike opened his mouth, about to say something, but he knew it wouldn't be worth it. "I'm not having this conversation with you, Leah."

"No," she challenged while moving even closer to him. Leah loved to challenge Mike too, but not the way April did. "You want to have this conversation after I'm too busy to remember what had even happened."

Mike was gritting his teeth, all her judgement making him so mad. "What did I do, huh?" He was raising his voice now, that just seeming to fuel Leah. "What did I do that makes you like this? Because you know we weren't always like this, we were happy once and I want to know where it all went wrong."

Leah got close to his face, her eyes fuming. "From the second April Asher walked into that White House."

She spun around on her heels so quick and headed to the bedroom as Mike continued to stand there dumbfounded. He followed her, demanding to know more. When he got into their room, she was taking the pillows off the bed and unmaking it, ready to go to sleep after her long night of waiting on Mike. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Mike." She spoke to him obvious. "I see the way you look at her." Mike looked down in thought. He thought the way he looked at her was only visible to him. "When she's not looking it's like she's the only woman in the room and when she is, your smile takes up your entire face. You're not fooling anyone, Mike."

Mike continued to remain silent after she said that. He knew he loved April, but he didn't think that Leah would notice it. He actually didn't know that _anyone else_ had noticed it. "No matter what you say," Leah continued, finally getting in the bed. "You love her, and she loves you."

Leah pulled the covers over her as Mike continued to stand there. She shut the lamp off, not really caring if Mike was joining her. This was actually probably going to be the last time they would share a bedroom together. Mike continued to stand there in the dark, the shock continuing to possess him. He didn't know how to move or where he would go if he even could. After tonight, his relationship with both of the women was going to change.

* * *

Leah was glancing through her paperwork when she noticed April in her maroon scrubs walking along side Megan. Leah began gritting her teeth, thinking about her argument with Mike last night. This girl just wouldn't leave her sight. She regretted ever telling her about the opening in her hospital. Now if she wasn't at her house all over her husband, she was at her hospital, being her charge nurse every other week.

When April noticed Leah, she immediately felt guilty for what had happened between her and Mike. Not to mention the fact that Mike chose to spend the day with her when he should have been with Leah. "Give me a second." She spoke to Megan, waiting until she was done with her story before approaching Leah. "Hey." April greeted.

"Hey." Leah spoke blandly, pretending to still go through her paperwork, not wanting to look at the girl and notice that April had everything she didn't.

"I want to apologize about last night." Leah stopped what she was doing, not looking at April, but looking up slightly. "Mike didn't tell me that you had asked him to go to a party with your friends. I wouldn't have invited him if I would have known."

Leah smiled slightly. A more annoyed smile than anything. April just had to be the good girl in everything. Leah finally turned to face her, April looking all over her face, not quite sure how to read her emotions in that moment. "You know April, maybe your patient satisfaction rate would be up if you spent less time talking and more time assuring your patient's comfortability."

Leah turned on her heels as April's eyes were as wide as they had ever been and she had to blink a few times to let everything she had just told her process. Megan joined April, her mouth dropped as April continued to stand there in confusion. "What the hell climbed up her ass?"

April had no idea and Leah's attitude had temporarily taken her voice. Leah bent down behind the front desk, pulling out her purse and heading to the front door where Mike was waiting. That was actually the moment she knew she wanted to divorce Mike Banning. When he saw her, he offered a smile, but she just continued to walk past him, at that moment only wanting him for a ride home. April and Mike then looked to each other, not sure what to say, but each knowing that their secret was starting to unravel with Leah.

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: I think she'll dump Troy in a few chapters so that will be something for you to look forward to haha.**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: Oh my gosh, I know! April is a strong one for having the power to resist it as best as she can. It is Mike Banning!**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: Almost to the movie! I think there will be two or three more chapters until we get to the movie action so that will be fun. I will be doing some time hopping so just keep on the look out for it.**_

 _ **Kagome309: I hope you liked the storm!**_

 _ **I know it's been a while since I updated and sorry about that. I was hoping on getting this chapter up on the fourth, but I was out there celebrating America and singing Toby Keith on the only day of the year I get to, what do you want from me? Haha. I hope your holiday was great and those of you who don't celebrate it, I hope you've had a great time since I've updated last. There should be two to three more chapters until I get to the movie so yay! I hope you all enjoyed and remember to review! Thanks!**_


	15. The Grandmother

_**December**_

April looked around as everyone else at the table continued to talk. April loved hanging out with Troy, but his friends were another thing. She wanted _her_ friends. And almost automatically after thinking that, Mike and Megan walked in. April got a huge smile before running to the door, Troy didn't even notice as she enveloped them both in a hug. "We're over here." She told them, pulling both of them with her until they reached the table.

It took Troy a minute to realize they were even there, but when he did, it was a quick hello before getting back into the conversation with his friends. April was obviously irritated with him, but the night carried on, April with her guests and Troy with his even if they were supposed to be meeting each other's friends. After a while, April began getting twitchy, knowing her addiction was calling. "Hey," April spoke, interrupting a talk between Troy and one of his friends. "I'm gonna go out for a smoke." It was something she developed after her mom died. She wasn't proud of it and she knew she should probably quit, but it was such a load off from real life.

"Okay." He spoke like he was confused as to why she was telling him. April sighed as he turned back to his conversation. He probably wouldn't even notice she was gone. Mike rolled his eyes at how blind he was. If _he_ had April, he wouldn't blow her off every time she tried to talk to him.

"I'll go with you." Megan offered, also picking up on what Mike saw.

"No." April spoke, shaking her head while tearing off the packaging of her fresh pack. "I don't want you to breathe in all that nasty air."

Megan opened her mouth, about to continue, but Mike cut in, knowing Megan wasn't gonna stop until someone was going with her especially after her Women's Studies class. "I'll go."

April studied him, confused, but pleased. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I could use one too." He spoke as he picked up his jacket and the two began making their way outside.

The bar they were in had a huge window placed behind the bar so you could see all the alcohol carried and watch the bartender make the drinks from outside. That's where Mike and April took their break. April had already taken her fist puff when she saw Mike patting himself, trying to find his lighter. April rolled her eyes at him automatically bringing a flame to her lighter, making Mike smile while letting her light his cigarette. "So," Mike spoke between his puff. "That Troy kid is one keeper."

"Can we not do this here?" She complained, tilting her head back to blow out some smoke. That's when she noticed snow was starting to fall.

"I'm just saying," Mike spoke as his eyes fixated on the snow just like her. "You have a tendency to be with assholes."

"Oh, I've noticed." She made a point to give him a dramatic look, making him give her an irritated smirk as she just laughed. "Let me live my life."

"You could do a million times better than that twerp." Mike commented, pointing to where he knew they were sitting, stressing April out. If they didn't suspect they were talking about them before, they knew now. "You need someone who actually likes spending time with you and will actually give you the time of day."

April rolled her eyes, knowing he was being a complete hypocrite right now. "Yeah, you're one to talk."

Mike stopped for a moment, knowing she was taking a jab at his marriage. Once April saw the look on his face, she felt insanely guilty. "I didn't mean it."

"No." Mike spoke before taking a hit of his cigarette to take a long pause to think about how to go about this. Especially what he was about to tell her. "You're right."

"I'm not." She pressed on, shutting her eyes as she moved closer to Mike. "You're a great husband."

"You're the only one who thinks that." He mumbled before looking off into the street.

April looked his face all over, sensing there was something he wasn't telling her. She also thought back to how he looked when he came into the bar. He automatically looked…sad. "What's wrong?"

Mike let out a dark chuckle as April continued to look through his face, running through all the possible scenarios, hoping it wasn't too bad. "Leah filed for divorce today."

April had to take a moment to let that process. She was happy, but also sad. Above all, the main emotion stabbing at her was guilt. They didn't have the best marriage before she came along and she knew he didn't love her anymore, but April couldn't help but think that she caused that. And honestly, now that Mike was single, the two had no idea what to do anymore. They had a deal a year ago that when Mike and Leah got a divorce, they were going to go public with their romantic relationship. Well, a year later, they no longer had a steady romantic relationship. They had a rocky shit show, they didn't know where it was going to take them next.

"I'm sorry, Mike." That was the only thing she could say. There wasn't anything else that she could think of to make this better.

"Yeah," Mike whispered, switching his attention to the snow again. "You know, it's what I wanted, but now that it's happening it feels…weird."

April moved closer to him, their arms touching, April hoping that would make him feel better as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm here for you if you need to talk about any of it." Mike looked over at April just as she took a hit of her cigarette, smiling a little bit. Getting a divorce was worth it if he and April could be more like this. That's when he leaned his head on April's, knowing that this whirlwind of a change wouldn't be so bad with her by his side.

"I almost forgot." Mike spoke, digging his hands into his pocket while April pulled her head up from his shoulder. "Why don't you take a look at your Christmas present?"

April looked to what he had pulled out of his pocket, instantly gasping and bouncing on the tips of her toes. "Oh my god!" She yelled, now jumping up and down as Mike began to smile from her joy. "You didn't!"

"They sold out because I bought the last two."

She looked to Mike, throwing her arms around his neck, too excited for words. She then broke from him remembering her best friend. "Oh, I have to go tell Megan!"

April threw her cigarette to the side before hurrying back into the restaurant, finding Megan and talking quickly before she could show her the concert tickets. Troy seemed confused as they talked quick just as Mike trailed in behind her. "What are 'Broods'?"

"A band." April almost screamed at him. "I've told you about them at least a hundred times. They're my favorite band!"

Troy looked to Mike as he smiled proudly at how happy his gift had made April, immediately feeling defensive. Even if he wasn't the most affectionate towards April, he still loved her. April turned back to Mike, thanking him before throwing her arms around him for another hug. All of it made Troy's chest squeeze from either pain or jealousy. He wasn't sure yet. She was always happy around Mike. She got the biggest possible smile on her face when she saw him. Did that mean she has feelings for him? The longer they stayed like that, the more Troy knew he had to step up his game.

* * *

April walked with her arm looped through Troy's as they walked into the restaurant for lunch. "You know you don't have to do this."

"I want to." He assured as she gave him a confused yet playful glance. Troy had been acting super weird lately. He was being very sweet and charming which was the exact opposite of how he usually was.

The two moved to the hostess, April immediately giving her a description of her grandmother, but before she could even finish, Grandmother Asher appeared, squeezing her arm lightly to make her jump. When April's eyes finally fixed on her, she got a huge smile on her face before wrapping her in a hug. "Hello, Grandmother."

"Hello, sweetheart." She spoke while giving her back a pat. Grandmother Asher had been trying to see April for the past few weeks, but April was just so busy with finals and friends and work, but today was all about her and her grandmother. And Troy. When she pulled away from her granddaughter, she got a big smile on her face just at the look of her. She really did miss April.

"Grandmother, I would like you to meet my boyfriend Troy."

He came out from behind April, taking her grandmother's hand immediately. "It's so nice to meet you."

Grandmother Asher looked him up and down for a moment before agreeing to take his hand. She knew April got this boyfriend because of everything that happened between her and Mike, but she honestly didn't expect it to go on as long as it did. No one did. "Nice to meet you." She spoke it with such a subtle distaste only April picked up on, making her shut her eyes. "Come on, I've gotten us a table."

"Yes," April spoke, putting her arm through Troy's again to make sure her grandmother knew they were still a couple and nothing she said was going to change that. "Let's."

When they had settled at their table, Grandmother Asher had asked Troy all the questions as the woman figure in April's life. He passed, but there was still something about him she just didn't like. Maybe it was the sadness in April's eyes when she looked to him and knew that he wasn't Mike. That she would never be able to have what she had with Mike in anyone else.

Before they got their entrees, Troy excused himself to go to the bathroom, making sure to press a kiss to April's temple before leaving the table. April watched him walk off and once she was sure he was out of earshot, she leaned in to her grandmother. "Can you at least pretend to like him?"

"I never said I didn't like him." She countered before taking a sip of her water.

"Oh," April spoke, poking at her salad with a fork. "That unimpressed look says it all."

"Well," she spoke, leaning in just in case anyone around them could hear what they were saying. "It's hard to like anyone trying to be with you after how in love I saw you with Mike and how heartbroken you were when it was over."

April practically dropped her fork on her plate from anger. "Can we not talk about that for once in my adult?"

"You shouldn't waste your time on someone when you've already found the perfect someone."

"Grandmother," April spoke slowly, knowing if she talked any faster she would blow up in her face. "There's nothing I can do if he broke things off to be with his wife."

"What about his divorce?"

April furrowed her eyebrows together. Megan didn't even know about that. "How do you know that?"

"I have my sources." She gloated before taking another sip of her water.

April sighed, getting a slight smile on her face, knowing her grandmother was just worrying about her and her happiness. "Maybe if the time is right, but not until he's one hundred percent divorced."

"I guess I can accept that." She spoke with a sigh in fake disappointment as April rolled her eyes with a smile. She really did love her grandmother even if she was insanely nosey.

Troy sat back down at the table, April smiling at him, but almost immediately her grandmother began to develop a nasty cough. April looked to her, her brows furrowing in worry. "Drink some water." She advised. Her grandmother just continued to cough, though.

It was getting heavier and raspier. "Grandmother?" April asked just as she fell out of her chair and to the floor. "Oh my god!" April yelled, hurrying to her side. "Call 911!" She alerted Troy, automatically doing as she said. April then began to react as a nurse student should, she began checking her vitals, trying to stabilize her until the ambulance arrived.

* * *

Mike nearly knocked over someone who was in his way as he hurried into the hospital. Leah had text him and lately, she wanted to have the least possible communication with him. But he was happy she text him what she did. It was still burned into his mind from the second he read it at the Treasury. _April's in the hospital_.

He quickly explained to his boss that there was a family emergency and left. He almost left without telling anyone. April was his everything and if she was hurt and he wasn't there for her, he would never be able to forgive himself. He immediately went to the reception desk, asking for her room, almost getting into a verbal argument with the woman on the fact that he wasn't a family member and then hurried to the ICU.

A million thoughts ran through his head, but mostly, he wondered if April was okay. He had no idea what was wrong with her and that's what was scaring him the most. She was in the ICU. That was the worst possible place he could picture her. He didn't want to walk in her room and see her unconscious and breathing through a machine. Or worse, he didn't want to see her gasping for breath and shivering in pain.

When he finally got down the hall the woman said she was in, he saw April pacing as Troy sat in the waiting room chair and Megan stood near her. "April." Mike breathed out, mostly happy she was okay.

When April turned around and looked to him, she had tears rolling down her cheeks as she ran to hug him. He hugged her back, knowing something was wrong, but at the same time insanely confused. He held her as tight as possible as she gripped onto his suit like her life depended on it. "April," he whispered, pulling away from her slightly so he could look at her face. "What's going on? What happened?"

Megan put a hand to her mouth, hating to see April gasp and cry like that as Troy just looked down into his hands, not sure what to do. "She was sick." April gasped out. "And she didn't tell anybody."

"Who?" Mike demanded, holding onto her shoulders and leaning down a little so he could look her right in the eye.

April's gasps worsened and she ended hiccupping out, "My grandmother."

"April." Mike repeated as April nodded, realizing why they told him the correct room number when he said April Asher. She and her grandmother shared the same name.

Mike pulled her back in for a hug as April continued to cry. He made sure to cradle her head, thinking back to the moments where he thought he was never going to hold her like that again. He shut his eyes, the two holding each other even tighter if that was possible. Troy just looked at the two and he didn't need any more confirmation. There was something there. The two of them had feelings for each other whether they knew it or not.

They pulled away when they heard other people jog into the waiting room they were in. They saw Roma and O'Neil before they saw Ben and Conner. When April saw her dad, she gasped and hurried to him, pulling him into a hug. When Mike saw Ben, he felt insanely uncomfortable. Ben's one request was for him to stay away from his daughter and here he was at the hospital to comfort her before her father could even make it there.

Ben pulled away from his daughter, about to question everything that had happened since he received a crying call from April, but Grandmother Asher's door opened up, out coming the doctor and Leah. Everyone looked to the two, hoping for some good news, but knowing the chance was slim. The doctor looked to them all before saying, "She wants to see April." April immediately pushed past everyone and hurried into the hospital room, not really wanting to hear the news anyway. She knew it was just going to be bad.

Ben looked to the doctor, moving closer as did Roma and O'Neil. "What's wrong with her?"

"Kidney failure." He spoke, briefly looking to his clipboard before looking back to the President of the United States. "And by what I can see, it's been going on for a while."

"So why hasn't it been treated?" Mike asked, almost as if it was the doctor's fault. That's when Ben looked over at Mike, still surprised by his appearance here.

The doctor paused for a moment, not sure how to say it, so Leah said it. "She's refused treatment."

Everyone let silence pass over them, Megan finally being the first to speak. "What?" It was so soft, Roma and O'Neil couldn't even hear it.

"She doesn't want treatment." Leah repeated. She didn't care for this family. They were one of the reasons for her divorce, but she would never wish this on anyone. Especially April who they could hear muffled cries from. It wasn't fair for her to lose her mother and then her grandmother just a year later.

Everyone was in shock; no one knew how to act or what to say. Until finally Ben spoke up. "So, what do we do?"

"We can make her comfortable." Tears began to flow down Ben, Megan and Conner's cheeks, but Mike just continued to stand there in shock, everything the doctor continued to say going in one ear and out the other. April could not lose her grandmother. Not like this. Not so soon.

The door to her room suddenly opened, alerting everyone to April. Her cheeks were stained with the tears still coming down as she turned to Mike's direction. "She wants to talk to you." Everyone looked to Mike confused. Even Mike didn't expect that, but how could he say no. He moved to the door, giving April's hand a quick squeeze before letting go and walking into her room.

Beeps from all the machines hooked up to her took up the whole room. It was the only sound you could hear. It was also dark inside matching the mood in everyone's hearts. The only light was the one above Grandmother Asher's head to be able to see all the buttons and switches just above the headboard. "Ms. Asher?" Mike called out once he got to the footboard.

That's when she looked up at him and smiled. That was also the moment Mike noticed how skinny she had gotten. "Mike." She responded, her voice as weak as he had ever heard it. "I would like to talk to you." She spoke, sitting up slightly.

"I heard." Mike spoke, sitting in the chair placed right next to her bed with a smile on his face. Losing the first April Asher would be a loss to the world.

"Has April ever told you about her grandfather?"

Mike's eyebrows furrowed, not recalling anything. "No, ma'am."

"Well," she smiled, thinking of all of her memories with him all over again. "He was a lot like Troy." Mike leaned in a little bit, intrigued in what she had to say. "Very by the book nice, but in all reality, he wasn't." Mike smiled a little bit, shaking his head, not sure what she was getting at, but he wasn't going to say anything. Knowing her, it was all going to make sense in the end. "The person I loved before him was…magical." She looked back to Mike, a soft smile growing on her face. "What I'm trying to say is, I didn't end up with my Mike Banning for a stupid reason like the one you and April are apart for." She laughed a little before her face grew serious, Mike hanging on every word. "I love my son and I love my grandchildren, so I don't regret marrying her grandfather, but sometimes, I wish I could have had my Mike Banning. Don't let my April end up with the wrong guy like I did."

Mike nodded, looking down, knowing this was one of her last requests. He grabbed her hand which she gripped as tight as she could with the little strength she had left. "Yes, ma'am." He whispered it, knowing there was nothing else he could say to her. And he intended to follow her request out.

* * *

So, April dressed in all black for the second time in a year. Everyone came to the funeral held in Pennsylvania. Even Troy. They had it on their old family estate in the bright sunshine. After the ceremony, the reception was held for close friends and family in the huge farm house. Mike was walking around aimlessly with a drink in his hand, feeling quite awkward since the only one he really knew here was April and the Secret Service agents. That's when he noticed April outside sitting on one of the tree swings.

April loved their old family house ever since she was a little girl. The tree swings always being her favorite part. When she was little, she and her mother liked to decorate the rope with flowers. She hadn't been out here in so long, she forgot how freeing it was to just sit there, looking out on the now frozen lake and slowly forgetting everything. It was the best place to think or not think at all.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone sit on the swing next to hers. She half expected her mother, but she knew that was impossible. When she turned her head and saw Mike, she knew that was the next best thing. She gave him a light smile while he gave her one back. She just looked so beautiful out here, the wind blowing her hair back, the look of complete relaxation on her face while the sun also beamed down on it. He thought back to what her grandmother had told him. April had to end up with him. Not right now. That would be too selfish, but it was going to happen.

"So, who's the girl with the wooden leg?"

April began to laugh, knowing Mike would ask her anything to make her feel better. That's what she loved about him. She almost forgot about Cousin Harley. "My dad's cousin Harley. If you ask her, she'll tell you a different story every time. I don't think I even know how it really happened."

"I thought it would be rude to ask her so I needed the inside scoop from you."

April looked up at Mike, searching his whole face, wondering where she went right to end up having someone as amazing as Mike in her life. "Thank you." She whispered as her hand moved to place hers on his.

Mike simply shrugged at her, wondering the same thing she was. How did he get so lucky? He then looked up to the branch. "How sturdy do you think this thing is?"

April looked up at the branch holding it as Mike got up. "Well, my grandmother's uncle Irving used to use it all the time and he's not the lightest – " She couldn't even finish her sentence before Mike took the rope and spun it quickly. April let out a loud squeal, not expecting it, but glad it happened. Mike then grabbed the rope suddenly stopping it making her laugh more as a strand of hair fell in front of her eyes. "I wasn't expecting that."

Mike laughed with her, staring into her eyes, loving that she could find joy on one of her saddest days. "Wanna go again?" April bit her lip before nodding excitedly.

He ran around her, letting the rope wrap around itself, building up momentum before letting her go to spin. That's when Troy looked out the window, seeing the two. Mike was always the one to make her happy. Always the one to make her laugh. Troy would never know her like he did and he could never bring a smile that big to her face. That's when he knew that he had to do something to keep her. Something drastic.

 _ **MisfitCarter: Thank you so much! You always have something nice to say that makes my day better. I hope you like the new chapter, love!**_

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: There will be a little more of a respect between April and Leah in this chapter and the next so she won't treat her bad like that for much longer. I hope you liked the chapter, hun!**_

 _ **Igor Bionsky: Maybe, maybe not *insert smirk***_

 _ **Kagom309: Thanks for the compliment!**_

 _ **Guest: Me too, man.**_

 _ ***GASP* What does Troy have up his sleeve? The next chapter is going to be about April's 21st birthday and then we'll jump into the movie. I hope you all liked this chapter and remember to review. Thank you!**_


	16. Twenty-One

_**March**_

 _April sat on the couch, trying to look like she didn't care about anything going on. Dr. Tanner sat opposite of her, just staring at April, immediately reading her stance. "So, April, your father thought you could benefit from therapy."  
_

" _I think I'm fine." April told her with an attitude and a nod._

 _Dr. Tanner crossed her legs, studying her face, trying to look as sympathetic as possible, having seen this time and time again. "You lost your mother." April just didn't say anything to her. "I understand that you think you're better off without this session, but I'm here to listen." She shrugged, April finally making eye contact with her. "I don't even have to offer you advice."_

 _That's when April got a thoughtful look on her face before leaning forward to see her face better. "Have you ever had someone tell you they love you, but then they feel too guilty to be with you or around you?"_

 _Dr. Tanner gave her a confused look, wondering just what she was talking about since this obviously wasn't about her mom, but she was willing to play along. "I can't say I have."_

" _Well," April spoke, straightening up a little. "That pain on top of the pain of losing your mother is the worst possible thing that could happen to you."_

 _Dr. Tanner was intrigued, but she told April she was going to listen, not offer any advice, just listen to what she had to say. That's what she really needed right now. Maybe she could move up to offering advice if April continued with the therapy. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"_

 _April sat there for a moment, looking at her. Maybe she would be able to benefit from someone listening to what she had to say. Hell, she might even like it. As she looked at Dr. Tanner, she knew that she couldn't go out and tell her father or the press what had happened. She had patient/client privilege. Maybe this really was the best person to talk to about everything that had happened in the past year. An outside ear. "Dr. Tanner," she began, knowing she was going to have to start this one from the very beginning. "Do you know why my secret service detail calls me 'showers'?"_

April held her purse as it rested on her shoulder in the waiting room as the memory of her first visit here played through her head. She was bouncing up and down, hoping no one would notice her especially since she had asked Jones to wait outside in the car for her. This was just not something a person in the limelight should be seen doing. Going to therapy. The door to the hallway of offices opened up and Dr. Tanner peaked her head through. "April?"

April smiled at her, pulling her hat down so no one else would notice her as she got up and hugged her therapist. "Come on in." Dr. Tanner spoke, touching her back to guide her to her office. As April walked, she noticed all the paintings. She hadn't been here in months, thinking she was fine, but the moment she woke up on her twenty-first birthday, she just felt…odd.

When she was finally guided into Dr. Tanner's room, she went straight to the couch as she shut the door. April sat down, taking her hat off and putting her purse down to her right as she sat on the middle cushion. Dr. Tanner got her paperwork set as April pressed her legs together while putting her hands on her knees, refusing to get comfortable. When Dr. Tanner finally looked up at her, April gave her a slight smile. "April, I was surprised to get a call from you for an emergency session since I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

"Um," April spoke while rubbing her knees, she had learned a long time ago that there was no lying to Dr. Tanner. "I've been better."

"How are you holding up after your grandmother? I know that was tough on you."

April let out a long sigh before rubbing her knees again. That was the last time she had seen Dr. Tanner. Right before she left for her grandmother's funeral in December. "I've been taking it okay, but today just feels different."

"What do you mean?" She asked, putting her clipboard almost all the way to the side.

"I don't know. With it being my birthday today I just feel…"

"Guilty?" She guessed since April didn't say anything. She turned out to be right since April nodded. "That's natural to feel guilty for celebrating after bad things have happened. It is _your_ birthday though, April. Your twenty-first! You're allowed to celebrate and be happy."

April smiled a little before nodding. "I just wish my mom was here."

Dr. Tanner gave her a light smile. "I know, honey." April played with her cloud necklace, Dr. Tanner noticing it immediately. "How's Mike doing?"

April seemed to perk up a little at the mention of his name. "He's fine. He moved out yesterday. I helped him."

"And how did Leah take that?"

"She was at work." April looked down a little. "She moved out the day before and someone bought their house today."

"Do you think you two are going to get back together?"

April shrugged, a small smile growing on her face. "I don't know. The divorce still isn't finalized. They're waiting on the last bit of paperwork which could take _months_ to sort out."

Dr. Tanner nodded. She knew, like everyone else who saw April talk about him, that they were in love. Not just some puppy love either that she saw so often in her office. Genuine love. She hadn't even met Mike, but she shipped it. Just like everyone around them, she shipped it. She wasn't going to let April know that. That would be completely unprofessional. She was rooting for them though. "So, what are you doing for your birthday?"

* * *

Mike had been drenched with sweat after moving all the heavy stuff by himself. He wasn't going to ask April for her help again. It was her birthday. She should be relaxing. Besides, her strength wouldn't be much help. She was more of a master packer. She showed her packing skills off well yesterday, expertly fitting tons of things into one box.

Mike looked around at the place, most of the things placed where he wanted them, about to call it quits when he heard a knock on the door. He looked around, knowing hardly anyone knew where his new place was. He slowly moved to the door, wondering who was there, but when he looked through the peephole, he got a huge smile on his face. "You've gotta be shitting me."

He opened up the door, giving the woman and the man a bright smile. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

The skinny redheaded woman walked in without waiting for an invitation. "Can't a mother come see her son while he's going through a move?"

Mike leaned forward, hugging her tight before planting a kiss on her cheek. He then looked to his brother trailing behind their mom. "More like Mum got nosy and wanted more information about the divorce."

Mike rolled his eyes with a large smile on his face before breaking out of the hug with his mom to hug his little brother. "So what?" Mike asked as he broke off the hug. "You two just climbed on a plane to help me move and find out about my divorce?"

"Well, it's been long enough, dear." His mom spoke, her thick Irish accent coming out in every syllable as she inspected the place. She turned back to her sons after taking in the place for a few seconds. "I like it."

Mike smiled, about to say more, but then he remembered one important thing about tonight. "Oh crap."

"What?" Daniel asked, almost freezing where he stood.

"April's birthday is tonight." He whispered out, wondering what he was going to do with his mother and brother during that time frame.

" _The_ 'April Asher'?" His mother asked, Mike rolling his eyes slightly, knowing she was about to get even more nosy than before. "The President's daughter? The woman you can't stop talking about 'April Asher'?"

"Yeah." Mike spoke, pulling out his phone and going to April's number without even looking up at them. "That's the one."

"What are you doing?" Daniel asked, leaning against his wall. That's when Mike got a good look at what he was wearing. He had on a dark leather jacket, a white shirt and dark blue jeans along with combat boots. Since when did his brother dress as dark as their hair color?

"Calling April." Mike was still distracted by his brother's new clothes when he heard a familiar, "Hey," on the other line.

April was out for lunch after her meeting with her therapist. Megan sat with her as she sipped on a sangria, smiling at the fact that Mike had called her after his early birthday wish this morning. She was also feeling just a little tipsy. "Mike, what's up?"

Megan gave her a flirty face once she found out who she was talking to. Megan didn't want to admit it, but she was also tipsy. "Hey," Mike spoke, a little worried about what she was going to say. "Is it okay if I bring someone to your birthday tonight?"

April was in shock. "Bringing someone" usually meant someone you were trying to sleep with. "Um," April didn't know what to tell him. She thought that once the divorce was finalized, they were gonna work on getting back together. That was the deal. That had always been the deal. April looked to Megan even if she couldn't hear the conversation., not knowing what to tell him. "I guess."

"Are you sure?" Mike was pacing in his new apartment, worried for what all she was going to say. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

April scoffed. Now he was worrying about how she felt. "Yeah, Mike." She spoke sassily. "It's fine."

"Okay." Mike was confused by the way she was acting. He didn't find anything wrong with what he asked. He was worrying about how she felt on her birthday. Maybe she was just stressed out with all the party planning. She would be better tonight. "I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight." She spoke blandly before hanging up, completely irritated with Mike Banning.

When she turned to look at Megan, about to tell her everything that just happened she had her finger up. "Hold on." Megan spoke, April giving her a confused face. That's when their waiter came over with fresh sangrias to replace their finished ones. April smiled as Megan pointed to her. "Take a sip and then talk."

* * *

April was walking around the party room of the bar, sipping on her drink. Her father insisted that he paid for the first drink of the night. As the night went on, though, more people offered to buy her drinks as it was her twenty-first birthday. Now, she had to admit that she was drunk.

She walked around aimlessly, noticing everyone having fun, but all she wanted was to talk to Mike. She wanted to see who he was bringing to her birthday party. Mostly, she wanted to see if she was prettier than her. It was an hour into her party and Mike still hadn't shown up. She was starting to get irritated and honestly a little worried. That's when Mike walked through the door.

Her face completely lit up as she hurried to the door, practically throwing herself into his arms. Ben watched nervously, wondering if the two were still seeing each other secretly, but Mike was the only one noticing he was watching. When she pulled away, she gave him a big smile. "About time you showed up."

Mike really studied her, noticing she wasn't standing too good by herself and almost slurring her words. "Are you drunk?" He whispered.

She leaned in a little bit, laughing the whole time. "As a skunk."

"Oh my god." Mike whispered as he pulled away from her, putting an arm around her so she wouldn't fall over. "Mum, Daniel, I would like you to meet April Asher."

April straightened up after she heard that. The "someone" Mike wanted to bring to her party wasn't someone he wanted to sleep with, it was his mom and little brother he thought the world of. "It's so nice to finally meet you." The redhead spoke as she moved forward, giving her a huge hug. April hugged back feeling extremely awful for being so rude to Mike earlier.

When she pulled apart from his mother, she looked to his little brother. "You must be Daniel."

April moved toward him, not knowing the proper etiquette for this. Hug him or shake his hand? "Rock Star talked about me?"

Daniel moved in for the hug, April happy she didn't have to make the decision. She was honestly too drunk for that. "All the time."

Daniel moved to her ear, whispering, "Trust me, dear, he talks about you more."

April giggled as they pulled apart, Mike looking to the two in confusion. "What did he say to you?"

Daniel laughed at his brother while shaking his head. "Don't worry about it, Rock Star."

April looked to Mike, hearing that nickname for the second time since the three had arrived. "What's that nickname for?"

"Nothing." Mike answered quickly as the other Bannings began to laugh.

"When Michael was little," his mom began as Mike immediately shut his eyes. This was not a story he wanted April to know. Also, she had just called him "Michael". "He would dance around our whole flat to rock songs while belting them at the top of his lungs."

April automatically began to laugh at the story, Mike shutting his eyes from embarrassment. "Okay," Mike said, putting his hand on April's back. "I'm gonna steal the birthday girl for a moment, you guys can mingle, get a drink, whatever you want."

"Oh, don't worry about us, Rock Star." April immediately laughed at what Daniel had to say, making Mike hurry her off even quicker.

"I love your family." April whispered to Mike as they sat down at the bar. Mike gave her an irritated look, April suddenly remembering why she was mad at him. "Hey," she almost shouted, taking Mike off guard when she punched him in the arm. "You told me you were bring someone to my party."

Mike looked confused. "I did bring someone."

"Mike," April spoke slowly, grabbing his hand to let him know she was serious. "When you tell someone that you're 'bringing someone' to their party, it usually means you're trying to sleep with them."

Mike looked at her for a moment before giving her a scoff. "Please, Asher, the only one I want to sleep with is you."

April slowly gave him a big smile, wondering why she was so worried about that in the first place. She knew Mike was hers. He always would be even if they weren't together. April was really starting to sober up now. Now that Mike was here.

Their moment was completely ruined when Troy pushed his way between the two to get to the bar, both Mike and April were visibly annoyed. "Guys, I have a birthday toast coming in just a little bit if you want to get to the main room." They both nodded as Troy gave April a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

When he ran off, the two watched him walk off, knowing he was probably more intoxicated than April. "Marry that boy tonight." Mike spoke as April laughed. "He's a keeper."

"Yeah," April scoffed as she got off from her seat and the two started walking to the main room. "Seriously. One hundred percent. The rest of the party is going to take place in a chapel."

Mike rolled his eyes at her as the two made it into the party room. Everyone around was mingling with each other. Megan and O'Neil. Daniel and Roma. The one that was taking them both by surprise was April's father and Mike's mother. The two of them turned their heads to the side at that sight. That was something neither of them expected.

"Can I get everyone's attention?" Troy asked, standing in the middle of the room, all the conversations dying around them. "Thank you." Troy then turned his attention to April, getting a big smile on his face. "April, I love you." She smiled a little bit at him as Mike just rolled his eyes while taking a swig of his beer. He couldn't do this toast sober. "And I want to tell you happy birthday and give you your present in front of all of your friends and family." April turned her head to the side, wondering what was so important that she had to have it now.

That's when Troy got on one knee while pulling out a ring, everyone around gasping as fear filled April's eyes and Mike had to spit out the beer that was in his mouth. "April Asher, will you marry me?"

The room had gotten insanely quiet, just waiting on her answer. She looked to Troy on the ground, her father across the room, Megan as she stood there with her mouth gaping and then Mike standing right next to her, his eyes a mixture of emotions. She finally looked back to Troy, taking a deep breath before finally speaking in almost a whisper. "Can we talk about this privately?"

Whispers immediately took over the crowd, but April couldn't stop looking at that ring. Troy slowly got off of his knee and when he did, April snapped out of her daze, taking Troy by the hand and pulling him into the smaller party room, shutting the door behind them even if the door was almost nothing but windows. Everyone made a crowd around the door, trying to listen as best as they could, but Mike just continued to stand there, still in shock. Tonight, April could not be his anymore.

April was pacing as Troy stood there, waiting for her to start speaking. "What is it? Do you not like the ring?"

"No." April spoke, still pacing. "It's nothing about the ring."

"Then what is it?"

April finally stopped, looking to him like he was insane. "Maybe the fact that we've barely been together for a year and you're asking me to marry you."

"April," Troy tried, but April was too hyped up for him to talk.

"Or maybe the fact that everyone here is watching us." She then moved to the door, hitting one of the windows, everyone scattering after that, but obviously still looking over to what was going on.

"You love me, don't you?"

April looked to him, going to her go-to answer, but she stopped. Did she really love Troy or love the fact that she could have an out-in-the-open relationship with him? "I," April just couldn't find herself to finish that sentence. She didn't love him. Not really.

"Unbelievable." Troy spoke while rolling his eyes at her. "So, I pour my heart and soul out to you and you don't even love me."

April scoffed. "You hardly poured your heart and soul out. It was all of three sentences. Don't be so dramatic."

"April," he spoke, obviously trying to keep from blowing up on her. "I just proposed to you in front of everyone you know and you're not going to say yes."

"Well I didn't ask you to propose to me." She was suddenly getting defensive. It was like he was blaming her for making a fool out of himself.

"No, but Mike is out there so you two go and have a great life since you were such a whore with him anyway."

April had enough. The second he finished his sentence, she punched him right in the face, taking the attention of everyone outside the room. "Just for your information," April spoke, getting down so he could see her as he held onto his bloody nose. "I have slept with Mike before, but never when I was dating you. Call me a whore all you want, but I never was one."

She then stepped over his body and walked out to everyone outside of their private room. She looked at everyone watching, not knowing what to say. "That was awesome." Megan spoke.

"April Asher." Her father scolded.

Mike just nodded with a big smile on his face. "That's my girl."

April smiled back at him as Ben turned to Mike, obviously irritated with what he had to say, but Mike didn't care. He was proud of April for standing up for herself. Mostly, he was happy that in just a few months, they would both completely be single and they could get a fresh start.

* * *

April woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and a throbbing hand. She looked over to her nightstand where her father had set up a glass of water, pain pills and some toast. She smiled at it, but that was until she felt all of last night coming up. She ran to her bathroom and began puking her guts out.

Conner was walking by her room, automatically hearing her throw up, knowing what that meant. "Dad," Conner called. "April's up!"

After April spent most of the morning not leaving the toilet, she went downstairs, dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, knowing there was no way she was leaving the house today. April made it into the kitchen where Ben and Conner were talking, both smiling when they saw her. "Good morning, April!" Ben yelled, stopping April in her tracks almost immediately.

"Please," April spoke with a hand to her still throbbing head. "If you've ever loved me, you would stop."

Conner laughed as he brought her a plate of breakfast. "Nice greasy bacon."

April gave her brother a dirty look. "You know, I can't wait for the day of your first hangover so I can torture you."

"I won't be stupid enough to get a hangover."

"Oh," April spoke dramatically, giving her brother a dramatic, sympathetic stare. "Young, sweet, Conner, you will be."

Ben walked to her, giving her the real breakfast they cooked for her. A lot of bread and no flavor. "Thank you, father." She spoke with happiness.

April took a bite of her toast as Ben just watched her. She was done with Troy and Mike was getting a divorce. That meant that the two were wide open for each other. "Hey, Conner," The two looked to their father, a small smile growing on his face because of that. "Can I talk to your sister alone?"

April got a panicked look on her face as Conner got a confused one before walking out of the kitchen, leaving just those two. April looked to her father, still chewing on the toast in her mouth. "Yes?" She spoke through a full mouth.

"Um," Ben spoke, not quite sure how to begin this conversation with her. "I wanted to talk to you about Troy."

"Look," April sighed out. "I know I probably shouldn't have punched him, but he asked for it."

Ben began to laugh while shaking his head. "No, not that."

April picked up her toast, giving him a confused face. "Then about what?"

"Well, really, it's about Mike."

April gulped. She didn't know her father knew about any of that, but when she thought back on it they weren't too slick on a couple of things. Hell, even Conner knew about it. "What about him?"

"Well," Ben started. "You are both going to be single soon and – "

"Dad," April interrupted. "I don't want to talk about this with you."

Ben took a moment, knowing this was going to be hard for him to ask this of her. "Just promise me you two won't get involved."

April sat there for a moment, not sure what to say. Of course she was going to get involved with Mike. Nothing would be standing in their way in a few months. "But, Dad –"

"Promise me, April." April scrunched her eyebrows, not understanding what would be so bad about her being with Mike. She didn't understand why he was asking her this. Mike was a good man and he made her happy. Wasn't that all he wanted for his daughter's soulmate? "He's dangerous."

April shook her head at him, all of her anger suddenly bubbling to the surface. "He's not dangerous, he kept me safe. You just blame him for what happened to Mom."

With that April threw her toast back on her plate before exiting the kitchen as Ben just continued to stand there. He bit his lip as his eyes watered from her mentioning Maggie and the accident in the same sentence. He then thought back on what he told Mike over a year ago. He had to keep April safe, but was he being completely unreasonable?

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Haha. I love Grandma Asher too. It was hard for me to say goodbye too.**_

 _ **Igor Blonsky: Haha. Thanks for calling me brilliant *blushes*. PS: Me too hehehe**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: Ugh, me too girl. Am sorry you cried, but also not sorry. Thanks, love!**_

 _ **Kagome309: Mike and April are kind of sort of getting it together finally. Hope you like this one, love!**_

 _ **THANKS FOR GETTING ME TO 70 REVIEWS! Wow, y'all are great! I hope you guys like this one and the movie is next! Love ya and remember to review which y'all are doing an awesome job of lately! Thanks!**_


	17. July 5th

_**July 5**_ _ **th**_ _ **7:18am**_

April twisted and turned in her bed, being haunted by the night of the wreck in her own dreams. She saw her mother hit her head on the window, the blood trickling down her face. She remembered the second they crashed how the seatbelt dug into her chest. She also thought of Mike. That face of defeat when the car crashed on the ice.

With a gasp, April woke up, putting her hand to her head, hating that she had to relive that. Her hands were shaking and she felt cold. Almost like it was her body that hit the icy lake. When April got out of bed and looked at herself in the mirror, she noticed she had tears falling down her face.

She quickly looked away, hating the look of her crying. This was not how she wanted her day to start. With her eyes shut, she thought back on what happened yesterday, smiling just a little bit. She had to get ready to go meet Mike because in a few hours, it would mark twenty-four hours that he and Leah had been divorced.

* * *

 _ **8:30am**_

When Mike woke up to his empty apartment, he stretched out, thinking about last night. It was a relaxing day. Basically everything in Washington DC shut down for Independence Day. So, after he got back from the court house, it was just him and April watching old war movies, eating snacks on the couch and just enjoying each other's company, but it never escalated from there.

In all honestly, neither of them knew how to make the first move. I mean they were practically a couple already they just didn't kiss or have sex. They did everything together; they were each other's best friends. She even went grocery shopping with him last week. They were as close as ever, but at the same time, they had never felt farther apart.

He was hoping that today when they met for coffee that they would be able to work through everything and maybe establish a relationship. In all honestly, he was just happy that he was able to see her.

He got dressed and went to April's favorite coffee shop. It had pictures of all the political figures past and present making her feel more at home. He moved to the direction of her favorite table, but when he got there, he didn't just see April, he saw Lynne Jacobs, the Secret Service Director.

He gave the two a confused look as April just smiled at him. She got up, the two meeting in a tight hug, giving April the perfect time to whisper, "Trust me." into his ear.

He nodded, knowing there was no one else he trusted more. They all sat down, going through the small talk as Mike ordered his coffee and April began dipping her tea bag in the hot water. "So," Lynne began. "How was your fourth?"

"My 'fourth' what?" April rolled her eyes as she turned to look at him, noticing the indention of where his wedding ring used to be, that guilt hitting her again.

Lynne didn't even flinch at his sass. She had grown used to it from years of working with him. "Fourth of July. Don't be an ass." April was out of her daze to look at Lynne. The two had been getting real close since Mike had left and she liked to think that was the one thing that saved her. "Some people do take holidays, you know."

"It was quiet. I went to the courthouse to finalize my divorce and then my ex-wife threw a party." He had a fake smile on his face the whole time, making April smile before grabbing his hand, giving it a slight squeeze.

Lynne looked back and forth at the two getting a little smile on her face. She was waiting for the day the two got together. "So, what did you two do?"

April turned back to Lynne, smiling a little bit. "Sat on the couch and watched movies all day."

"And I'm shocked." The two were always dancing around each other, never really saying what they needed to say to get the relationship rolling. She thought the minute his divorce papers were finalized they would be on each other before the gavel even fell, but she thought wrong because the two were still awkwardly avoiding their feelings.

"Ms. Jacobs."

All three of them looked up to see Roma, O'Neil and Jones come toward them. Mike's face fell a little. He thought he was going to have more time with April. "Good morning." She told the group, glancing up briefly from her newspaper.

"How are you, buddy?" Roma asked, leaning forward to shake Mike's hand, Mike making sure his hand went around April's shoulder making him closer to her.

"Hey, Roma. Good to see you. How's the family?"

April smiled at the sound of Roma's family. She loved hearing about all of their lives and truly cared what was going on. "The kids are good. Thanks."

"O'Neil!" Mike spoke moving to his hand, snapping right after they let go of the handshake.

"So we missed you for poker last week." Roma spoke, all three of the men getting a smile on their faces. "Where were you?"

"I miss taking your money."

Everyone laughed at O'Neil's comment before April turned to Mike to see how he would respond. When everyone saw the way she looked at him, their hearts melted. Why the hell weren't they together yet?

"Yeah, I know. I've been working the late shift." Mike scoffed before rolling his eyes. "Nonstop action over at the Treasury." April moved her hand to his again, giving him that squeeze again. He smiled at her, knowing he probably wouldn't be able to make it through the divorce without that little fragile hand squeezing his big ones.

"Well," Roma spoke cautiously, knowing it was a touchy subject. "You gotta do what you gotta do, right?"

Mike nodded and April wanted to change the subject as fast as possible. "Collecting me already?"

"Yeah," O'Neil spoke. "Your dad wants you home so we can take care of some last minute stuff."

"That's right." Mike spoke, looking to April before looking back to the guys. "You guys got a big day. You got the Koreans coming in?"

Roma shrugged while looking over to O'Neil. "Business as usual." He then turned around to the man who had been awkwardly standing in the back for the entire conversation. "Hey, I wanted to introduce you. This is Agent Jones. You've heard of Mike Banning, haven't you?"

Mike's arm rested on the back of April's chair with a smile, waiting to hear what stories had been told about him. "Yeah," he spoke, getting a big smile on his face. "The guy who told the Speaker of the House to go fuck himself."

April immediately began to laugh as her head fell down as Mike smiled proudly at the fact that this was the moment associated him as he nodded in confirmation. Lynne straightened out her paper with a disapproved face before folding it back up resulting in Mike and April trying to hide their amusement. "Don't you guys have somewhere to be?"

"Yes ma'am." They all spoke as one before looking back to Mike and April, wondering how they were going to say goodbye.

April turned to Mike with an excited glance. "The Koreans are coming in at seven." He nodded, waiting for what she was going to say next. "Meet me at eight for dinner?"

Mike nodded, a small smile growing, looking at her lips before going back to her eyes. "Where?"

She thought for a minute before looking back to him with a smile. "That burger place we went to that one time."

He laughed before nodding in agreement. "Burgers and beers."

"See ya." She spoke, the two leaning in to give each other kisses on their cheeks before she grabbed her purse, stood up and followed her security detail out.

Mike watched her the whole time and once they had got in the car and drove away, Mike began thinking about his old job again, the look evident on his face. "Not getting any easier, huh?"

"No." He answered quickly before taking a sip of his coffee. "I want back in." He spoke suddenly, making Lynne look up from the email she was sending. "Desk job is killing me."

"Mike," she spoke as she looked back down to her phone. "Everyone knows you did the right thing on that bridge. Hell, even the President knows." She then looked back to him, throwing her phone on the table. "He just doesn't want to see you and be reminded of it every day." She looked to her coffee beginning to put creamer and sugar in it. "And then there's April to think about."

Mike suddenly thought back on what she had told him. He was having dinner with April tonight. The two of them. No Leah. No Megan. No Troy. Just each other. Were they going on a date? Mike opened his mouth, taking a minute to think it over again. "Did April just ask me out on a date?"

She looked to him with a thinking face on. "I was gonna ask you if you knew because I was curious about that too."

Mike gave her a terrified look, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do. Lynne suddenly gave him a smile, shaking her head at him. "You know, the first time you walked into my office out of the darkness you needed therapy then, never mind now. And you don't exactly do yourself any favors."

"Where are you going with this?" Mike asked, brows knitted in confusion.

"Mike," she spoke seriously. "You have got to learn to get back into the real world." Mike nodded, knowing she was talking about April. He had to let it go and be in a real relationship with April. It was time and they had both tugged on each other's sleeves long enough.

"Yeah, that's a good one, Jacobs. Let me write that down."

That's when she picked up her things, detecting his sass and not wanting to be any part of it. She headed for the door before Mike stopped her from walking out, knowing she was just trying to help. "Hey, Jacobs." She stopped, about to open up the door, looking back to him as Mike's smile grew. "Thanks."

She simply smiled at him, giving him a nod before exiting the coffee shop, leaving Mike to think about everything she said. She was right. He had to move on for April if they were ever going to be together.

Shortly after Lynne left, he got up from his seat, tipped their waiter and then moved to his car parked across the street. His jaw tightened as he thought of that Christmas Eve all over again. He remembered April laying there, Maggie almost as worse as the condition her daughter was in. He remembered dragging April out of the car as she pleaded for him to stay with her, for him to not go back in the car. Mostly, he remembered the look on Maggie's face when he dragged Ben out of the car and the look of utter pain on Ben's when the car hit the ice.

As Mike started driving, he began to think of April. He pulled out his phone, quickly dialing her number, hoping she would answer. But April was too busy in the back of the car going through the points her dad wanted her to look over before he talked with the South Korean Prime Minister.

When the phone went to voice mail, Mike sighed obviously a little disappointed, but he loved to leave her messages and she loved when he left them. She loved to go back and listen to them when she was particularly lonely. "Hey," he spoke into the phone. "I'm just checking in." Mike took a moment letting out deep sighs, feeling guilty about the fact that April didn't have a mother anymore because of him. That was the one thing that always got him about being with April. The guilt. "I'll call you later." He took a pause, wanting to get something out after thinking about the accident all over again. "I love you." And with that, he hung up and continued the drive to work.

* * *

 _ **10:15am**_

"So," Megan began on the phone after April had explained everything to her. "It's a date?"

April ran a hand through her hair, not really sure what to say. "I don't really know."

Megan sighed, getting irritated with the two. Why wouldn't they just get together all ready? "And you're telling me you spent all day at his house yesterday and nothing happened?"

"Don't give me that." April spoke with an eye roll. "We're taking it slow."

"As opposed to the both of you being single for four months and neither of you doing anything about it?"

"You're the one who told me not to do anything with him until he was one hundred percent divorced."

"Yeah," Megan spoke irritated. "I didn't think you would actually listen to me." April rolled her eyes at her best friend again. She was so unreadable at times. "Besides, he got one hundred percent divorced yesterday. Why don't you two just jump each other's bones already?"

"It's not just about jumping each other's bones."

Megan shook her head, knowing April almost as well as Mike did and she was stubborn. "I'm just saying that as long as you two have been apart and been in love with each other, you two deserve to be together for once."

April sighed, knowing she was right, but at the same time, she was still holding off a relationship with him again because of how harshly he left her over a year ago. It still hurt her and the thought of being in a relationship with Mike again was breathlessly excited as it was severely irritating. "So are you gonna call him back from earlier?" Megan knew this was a touchy subject and she didn't want April to think about it for too long.

"He's at work right now, but I feel like I should. He sounded really torn up."

"Maybe trying to figure out if it's a date or not."

April gave her a smile, wishing she could talk to Megan about this in person. "Shut up."

"Look, I'm pulling into work right now so call me after the date. I should be off by then."

April nodded, even if she knew Megan couldn't see it. "I'll call you after the date."

"Aw, you called it a date!" Megan squealed as she walked into the hospital.

"Go to work." April complained.

"First day without Leah." April smiled, thinking about it again. Leah transferred to another hospital a few days ago and April and Megan were thrilled. It was getting beyond awkward. "I will enjoy work today."

"Love you." April spoke dramatically.

"Love you too." Megan spoke before hanging up the phone and putting her stuff up before going to clock in and work with her patients.

* * *

 _ **4:26pm**_

Ben was getting ready in his closet, making sure to put on the watch Maggie had gotten him for Christmas. With that, he felt like she was always with him in some way. When he walked into his room, he got a big smile on his face. His kids were sitting on the couches in his room both with their noses buried in their books. They were the things keeping him going.

He sat on the arm of Conner's chair, April finishing up the page she was on before looking up at her father. "Hey," Conner looked up at him, wondering what his father was going to ask him. "Which one do you like?"

April smiled noticing the two ties in his hands. One blue and one red. Ben already knew she was going to pick the blue one, but he wanted to know what Conner thought. "I don't know." Conner mumbled before looking back down at his book as April smiled at him.

Ben looked over to his daughter, the two exchanging a smile before he wrapped the red tie around Conner's shoulders going with April's silent choice. "Okay, you take that one and I'll take this one."

Currently, Ben was trying to convince his kids to go on a vacation for the summer. Just a week or two. It was something they really needed since they hadn't spent time as a family in a while. "We can get some fishing in, hit the bag together, lay by the pool. It'll be fun."

April sighed, hating that out of all the presidential resorts they could have gone to, he picked Camp David. And she knew Conner was thinking about it too. "But I hate Camp David." April looked up to Conner, a chill running down her back as she thought about how cold she was sitting on that frozen bridge. A hand went to her scar just barely peeking out of her shirt, rubbing it as the stinging pain came back. Ben looked back in his mirror, seeing April's expression, immediately regretting his suggestion. "Can't we go somewhere else?" Conner asked hopefully. "You know, the beach?"

April gave her brother a slight smile as he turned to look at her, knowing he was just thinking about her. "Yeah," he spoke, fixing his tie before turning back to his kids. "The beach does sound kind of better."

He sat down on Conner's chair again, looking to his watch before looking back and forth at his kids. "Hey, I got three minutes, let's run down to the kitchen and get some ice cream."

"Yeah." Conner spoke excitedly as he put his book to the side.

Ben turned to his daughter who was giving him an excited smile. "What do you say, April? Chocolate chip or rocky road?"

"Well," April spoke as she got up, moving to her father. "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna have some of the rocky road before you eat it all again."

He gave her a serious look with a smile creeping out of his lips. "I don't remember it quite like that."

"You really did, Dad." Conner spoke, backing up his sister. "I didn't even have some."

There was a knock on the door as Ben put his arm around his daughter before looking to the door, a smile still on his face. "Come in!" He called.

Immediately, Roma opened up the door, looking straight to the President. "Mr. President, we're ready for you."

April looked over to her brother, noticing his face falling as Ben looked down to his watch. "Already?"

"Yes, sir." Roma confirmed with a nod.

Ben immediately turned back to his children, April giving him a slight smile, even if she was a little disappointed, she still understood. "Sorry guys."

Conner shook his head, a frown still on his face. "It's okay, Dad."

He ruffled Conner's hair before giving him a kiss on the top of his head and gave April a kiss on her cheek before he walked out of the room. April took her father's place on the arm of the chair Conner was sitting on, looking to Conner with a smile on her face. "Hey," He looked up at her, still a little disappointed. " _We_ can still get ice cream."

Conner got a huge smile on his face as April leaned in close before yelling out, "Race you!"

And with that, she was gone. "Wait!" Conner yelled, throwing his book to the side before running after her down the halls, the staff hurrying to get out of their way. "That's not fair!" They all laughed before continuing with their tasks, knowing the Asher kids would always be as hyper and energetic as they were when they first got here.

* * *

 _ **6:29pm**_

All of Washington DC was flooded with sirens as police escorted the South Korean Prime Minister to the White House. Tourists were intrigued with what was going on, but for the natives, it was just another ordinary day to them.

Mike was getting distracted by all of this, wishing he was there right now with all of his friends, doing the job he loved. He promised April they would go out tonight so he looked back to his computer to continue his work.

Tourists crowded around the White House to get pictures of what was happening. Inside the White House, all of the Secret Service ran through their preparations one last time to make sure everything was just right before the Koreans pulled into a parking space.

Most of the Secret Service was surprised to see Forbes come out of one of those cars, not having much contact with him since he left, but Forbes was like that. They just didn't expect to see him today of all days.

Roma was the one to greet the Prime Minister and bring him in as both Roma and Forbes trailed behind to catch up like old friends.

* * *

 _ **7:00pm**_

Conner laid on April's bed as she brought out outfit after outfit for him to look at. "Isn't this something you should be doing with Megan?"

"She's at work so you're my next best option." She pulled up the possible shorts that could go with the top she had already showed him. "Now teal or green?"

Conner studied it for a minute before pointing to the teal one. "Teal, it makes you look tanner."

"Cool." April spoke before putting the outfit on her bed next to all the other options.

"So, is this a date?"

April sighed while running a hand through her head again, all of this reminding her of the conversation she had with Megan this morning. "Why does everyone keep asking me this?"

"Because literally everyone wants to know if you and Mike are gonna get back together or not."

"Look," April spoke as she sat down next to her brother, not sure how to talk to him about this when he's never really experienced love like that. "It's been four months since I broke up with Troy and broke his nose."

"And permanently deviated his septum." Conner butted in.

"You weren't even there, Conner."

"I saw the pictures. His nose is permanently messed up."

"Okay," April spoke, throwing her hands up like it wasn't really a big deal. "I might have deviated his septum. The point is that I do want to be with Mike again, but I'm afraid that if we get back together too quickly that it won't work like it used to."

"But if you both love each other then why is it a problem?"

April looked down, not sure how to tell him any of this. "Conner,"

"April," Conner spoke, interrupting her. Conner's eyes were fixed on something outside the window, confusing her. "Look."

She turned around to see smoke coming up not too far away from their house. "Oh my god." April whispered as she stood up.

Ben was being rushed to the bunker, telling anyone who had a hand to spare to find his children and bring them to the bunker safely.

Sirens began to go off, causing April and Conner to panic. April turned to her little brother, knowing she had to act like she wasn't scared. "It's gonna be okay. We've been through drills before. We just have to get to the bunker as fast as possible." She laughed a little while shaking her head. "It's probably just a fire close by and they want to make sure we're safe. It's just a precaution."

Conner nodded as she grabbed his hand and began to guide him out of her room. It was like their home was now a ghost town. No one was in it. They had all probably made their way into the bunker and the staff had all left for the day by now. Sirens were still blaring, making their panic rise.

When April pulled him to the stairs so they could get to the bunker, shots rang out making them both jump, not knowing where it was coming from. April turned to her brother, looking him in the eye intensely. "Stay right here." He nodded even if he was shaking so hard from his fear. April ran to the nearest window watching as the Washington Monument was being shot down. She put a hand to her mouth, knowing that was something that would haunt her nightmares.

* * *

 _ **7:06pm**_

Mike was running down the steps of the treasury only having one thing in mind. April. An hour before he was supposed to meet her, this happened. The streets of Washington DC had become a battle zone. People were being shot as every type of military, Secret Service and police units were out trying to protect everyone they could.

Mike hurried down the street, yelling for everyone to take cover grabbing the first people he could collect and pulling them down to hide behind a car as shots fell down on the street. Once the plane passed, Mike got up, knowing the one thing he had to do was get to the White House. He ran down the street as fast as his legs could take him, the only thing on his mind being April's safety.

* * *

 _ **7:10pm**_

"April!" Conner called hurrying back to her.

April turned around quickly, getting on her knees so she could look right at him. "Conner, I need you to go into the walls."

"But April – "

"Conner, please, just do what I say." She put her hand on his hair, rubbing it back. "Go by the Lincoln Bedroom, your favorite hiding spot and I'll meet you there. I have to do something really quick, okay?"

"April," Conner cried out as a plead just breaking April's heart. "I'm scared."

April let a few tears roll down her cheek, knowing she could break her strong wall down for just a few seconds. "I know, I'm scared too, but for right now, I need you to be brave."

Conner nodded as April leaned in to give him a kiss on the head before letting him run off. She watched him until she couldn't see him anymore, hoping he would get there okay. She couldn't stand there all day, though. She had to hurry and she had to get back to her brother.

April took off into the direction of the Oval Office and when she got there, that's when the shooting started. April immediately dropped to the ground as her father's office was ripped to shreds by bullets. She screamed throwing her hands to her ears as the bullets kept flying, but she knew it was useless. No one would be able to hear her screams from here.

Eventually the bullets stopped, but she still didn't trust to get off the floor yet. That's when she heard an explosion. Tears freely fell down her cheeks as she clutched her hands to her chest. This was a terror attack and she was right in the middle of it.

* * *

 _ **7:12pm**_

Mike walked up to the gates of the White House, taking everything in. Bullet holes stained the house he once knew like a home. And he knew April was inside there. He ran a hand through his hair as he felt tears poke at his eyes. Was she okay? Was she even alive?

April finally got up from the floor and looked out the window. She saw the Washington Monument lie in ruins and she saw people gathered around her house as the smoke blew around it. She put a hand to her mouth, not able to stop the tears from flowing freely. This was her home and they had destroyed it.

And in a moment, the stars aligned and both Mike and April happened to glance in each other's direction. April put her hand to the window, dirty and filled with ash as Mike gripped the gate in front of her house, both feeling an insane desire to hold each other. April gasped, the tears stopping in a moment just at the sight of her love. "Mike." She whispered out.

Mike gripped the gates tighter, almost finding himself able to hear her voice trickle through his ears and dance around his brain. "April."

They stayed like that for a few moments until a nearby bus exploded, breaking the area into chaos again.

 _ **stormrunner74: Haha I'm sorry. It slipped my mind. Still love you though!**_

 _ **Igor Blonsky: Honestly forgive him already Ben! And the doors blocked the sound so he couldn't hear her say that.**_

 _ **Mrs. Happy Anarchy: I think we can all agree we hate Troy and glad he's out of the story now. Honestly, who does he think he is? And omg I can't wait for it either. I have the scene perfectly in my head and I can't wait for you guys to read it.**_

 _ **CoolCat0720: Here is your daily dose of Mike and April!**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: Let them be together already, Ben!**_

 _ **Kagome309: Thanks for the support, love!**_

 _ **Well, it took me seventeen chapters, but we are now getting to the movie! I'm so excited to write it and I'm excited for you guys to read it. Let me know what you think by reviewing or if you want, you can ask me questions about any of my stories on Tumblr. My username is janaespecter14! See ya next time, loves!**_


	18. The Attack

Mike moved toward the chaos as everyone else ran away from it. He could see a few Koreans that must have come from the tour bus looking at each other, a backpack on each of their backs. "Hey!" Mike yelled, going to his gun. They moved even closer to the gates, scaring Mike even more. April was in that house. If they blew it up, she would be dead. "Hey!" He tried again, but they still didn't listen. Mike finally pulled his gun all the way out, pointing it in their direction. "Get the fuck down!"

He tried to pull the trigger to his backpack when Mike shot him point blank. He couldn't stop the other guy, though. He went and pulled the trigger, Mike trying to get away as fast as possible, but he was still caught in the explosion, sending him flying in the air and slamming on the sidewalk.

Mike's ears were ringing as his body ached. He rolled onto his side, looking up to the window where he last saw April, but she was no longer there. Panic began to set in his body knowing that he had to get in there and none of these sons of bitches were gonna get in the way of him saving her.

On the White House lawn, chaos broke out. South Korean officials were killing everyone trying to help and more people came up with guns as a full on battle broke out. Mike moved to his radio, signaling for help, but the radio had suffered too much damage from the explosion. He threw it to the side, rendering it useless.

More Secret Service agents flooded out of the White House, but they were just going down like flies. Mike was still set on one thing. Getting in the White House and saving April. He moved to his gun, picking it up and getting up all his strength to stand up and move towards the house.

* * *

Ben was running his hand through his hair as he moved to the Prime Minister, trying to be as calm as he could in this situation. "Mr. Lee, we've had a problem. Please have patient with us."

O'Neil then approached the two. "Mr. President?"

"Yes?"

O'Neil turned to look at Mr. Lee and then moved his head for him to follow away from the Prime Minister. Once he was sure they were about two feet away from them, he began talking in a low whisper. "It's a critical message. The White House is under ground attack."

Ben looked up to him in panic, not sure what to say or do. "O'Neil," he began in a petrified voice. "April and Conner are out there."

* * *

April ran though the walls, trying to find Conner. She didn't want to yell in fear that the terrorists had made it into the house, but she was starting to get panicked. He wasn't where she told him to go. If anything had happened to him while she wasn't with him, she would never be able to forgive herself. That's when she stopped, a hand going to her side as she tried to catch her breath. "Conner," she whispered. "Where the hell are you?"

That's when she looked down, noticing a rock, giving her an idea. She picked it up, noticing it was quite round. "This better work." She whispered before she rolled the rock letting the sound echo in the walls. Once it stopped, she waited for a moment, waiting to hear something from her brother, anything. Even if he yelled at the top of his lungs she would be thrilled.

And that's when it happened. She heard something roll in the walls. She smiled, only taking her a moment to pinpoint where her brother had gone. And then she ran as fast as her legs could take her until she almost ran right into her brother. "Oh my god, Conner!" She yelled, gripping his face in her hands as she got down on her knees to reach his eye level. "I told you to go behind the Lincoln Bedroom." He just continued to stand there. "Why didn't you listen to me?!"

Conner looked like a ghost in that moment just staring at his sister. She was getting worried, wondering what had happened to him until he finally spoke. "April," She waited patiently taking deep breaths from fear and the running. "They're killing people out there."

* * *

"Get me the Pentagon on the line now!" Ben commanded as he moved to the control center in the bunker.

"Yes, sir!" One of the agents yelled, jumping into action as quick as possible.

Then, someone in the room did the unthinkable. Forbes turned to Agent Jones standing right next to him and shoved a knife into his brain. O'Neil immediately went to his gun, but Kang jabbed him in the throat, catching everyone else's attention before he shot him.

A man threw himself in front of Ben resulting in gun shots all over his torso. Ben caught him as he fell back, easing him to the ground. More people around them were getting shot and stabbed to death, leaving just the important figures and a very confused Mr. Lee. Ben ran up to Kang, but he pulled a gun on him before Ben could even blink.

Kang walked toward him, pushing the gun until it touched his forehead before grabbing him by the tie as everyone else left alive were being tied up. After a few moments of intense staring, Kang punched Ben right in the chest, grabbing him by the neck again before he could even fall down. He slowly brought him down, throwing him to where everyone else was being tied up, having one of his minions doing it for him.

* * *

Mike was able to make it across the White House lawn as Davis ended up getting shot in the neck. Mike placed his arm around him as he continued to shoot at the terrorists before setting Davis down by one of the columns. Mike immediately placed his hands to his neck, trying to stop the bleeding. It was times like this that Mike wished he had April's medical training background. There was nothing he could do as Davis bled out in front of him.

Mike cursed before putting his head to the column, wishing there was something he could have done. Mike then put another magazine into his gun before looking to one of the agents by him. "Where's the President? April and Conner?"

"I don't know." The agent yelled over the gunfire. Mike threw his head back into the column, feeling completely hopeless. How the hell were they supposed to take on all these men?

Men continued to pile out of the White House like there was no shortage of them. Mike looked back on the lawn noticing all of them drop to their stomachs. Mike's brows furrowed but then he saw a gun come out of a dumpster truck. He looked back to everyone coming out of the White House, trying to tell them to go back, but they couldn't hear and one by one, they were all getting shot down. "NO!"

The doors to the White House finally shut, but Mike couldn't help look at all the men lying on the ground covered in blood. He knew these men. Knew their families. And just like that, they had been wiped out. "Fuck!" Mike yelled before looking back to the terrorists, noticing one of the men getting up. "RPG!" Mike called to the remaining agents, all of them huddling together as the missile shot the doors to the White House open.

Once they had the doors blown open, the men got up off the ground and headed to get in the White House. "Get in!" Mike yelled to the others. "Get inside!"

As they ran, one of them got shot to the ground and one stayed back to shoot. Mike looked to him once he was in the White House with panic. He turned to Mike, ready to join him when he was shot in the back. Mike ran to him with fear in his eyes that he was going to have to watch another man get shot. He grabbed the man's hand, but right when he did he was shot multiple times in the chest, ending his life right there on the White House steps.

Mike staggered back, wanting to sit there for a moment and process everything that happened, but if he let himself do that, he would have a panic attack and he would never find April. He crawled away from the entrance and began to hurry up the steps. He was up far enough to where he wouldn't be able to be seen, but he would be able to see them as they walked right on in. And it was right there that Mike noticed he had no ammo left. Silently cursing himself for not taking out all these bastards right here and now, he hurried up the stairs in hopes to find April.

Upstairs, Roma was leading his own army, taking down everyone who tried to make it past them. A grenade was thrown taking out most of his soldiers, Roma using one of his men's bodies as a shield, crouching down to shoot at them from a distance.

The remaining terrorists ended up shooting down the surveillance room door and taking out everyone in there in hopes to take the mansion down inside and out.

Roma had run out of bullets in his gun so he leaned over to pick up a spare when his hand was shot. He cursed, bringing it to him from the pain. It was in that moment Roma knew there was nothing he could do to kill these guys. They had the advantage and he was going to die in there, but he was going to do his job. He began to crawl away from them, bringing his mouth piece to him to alert everyone who would be able to hear it. "Olympus has fallen." He said it as many times as he could before the terrorist got near him. Roma knew one thing. He wasn't going down without a fight. He spun onto his back before screaming out, "Fuck you!" Shooting him right in the heart with a gun lying near him. After that, Roma was shot to death by the others.

* * *

Everyone in the Pentagon was in awe, the man behind the computers almost whispering, "They've taken the White House." Everyone at the conference table turned to look to the control booth, fear plastered all over their faces.

They had different news stations on all their monitors reporting what was happening as everyone around worked diligently, not at all sure what they could do, but doing everything they could.

"Sir," one of the men from the control room reported to General Clegg. "We have a hot feed from the PEOC."

Everyone got deathly quiet as the video feed appeared on their large screen. It was Minister Lee, sitting there as tears were running down his face. "Mr. Lee," General Clegg began. "Are you safe, sir? Is the President with you?" He didn't say anything, Lynne looking confused, not sure what was happening. "Sir, can you hear – " Before he could even finish that sentence, Minister Lee was shot in the head.

"Oh my god." Lynne whispered just before Ben was brought up to the camera with a gun pointed at his head.

He looked into the camera seriously, knowing the only thing they were thinking about right now was getting him out alive. And he knew, they would do anything to make that happen. "Don't negotiate."

After he said that, the man holding him put a hand over his mouth and dragged him away. Kang then came up to the camera with a deadly serious look on his face, everyone scared for what he was about to tell them. "I have your commander-in-chief, now stand down."

"Who are you?" General Clegg commanded, fear running through his body.

"I am the man in charge of your White House." The scariest thing about Kang wasn't what he was doing, it was about how calm he was while doing it. "Now stand your men down."

Everyone shared worried looks, not sure what to do. They knew they shouldn't, but this was their president they were talking about. "Stand down!" General Clegg finally commanded, breaking the intense silence. "All units, stand down!"

Just as he got what he wanted, the video feed ended leaving everyone terrified for what all was going to happen tonight. "Ladies and gentlemen," Clegg announced, leaning his palms against the table from worry and stress. "We are now at DEFCON 4."

* * *

Mike walked through the dead bodies lying around upstairs, taking what guns he could, but while he walked around, he saw all of his friends. He hated to see them like this. Some of the strongest people he knew were lying lifeless in the house they were trying to keep safe.

Suddenly, all the lights in the house went off. Mike looked around, knowing these people were the result of it. They had taken out all the power. That's when he heard people in the surveillance room.

The door had been blown off as he moved, hearing talking inside. He made sure to make noise so they would come out and once he did, Mike stabbed him in the chest until he was lifeless, dropping his body like it was nothing. Mike took all the guns off of him, making sure to check his pockets. And when he did, he found a picture of April and Conner. The two were smiling brightly with each other, April's arm wrapped around her brother's shoulders.

Mike was suddenly filled with anger. They were going to try to kill them. They honestly had the audacity to try to kill April. The picture almost crumbled in his hands as his hands turned into an angry fist. That was the moment he decided he was going to kill everyone in here.

He went to the back of the room, pulling out the kill switch from the code locked safe and moved to the computers quickly. He plugged it in, typing in his security clearance to disable the surveillance cameras, a small smirk coming to his face. Good luck trying to track him or April with that.

* * *

Megan was dragging people into the hospital, one right after the other. In that moment, rank didn't matter. If you could help in any way, you were helping. "Are we color coding or number coding?" She asked one of the doctors as they helped someone bleeding out of their head onto a gurney.

"Number!" The doctor called quickly before moving to the next patient.

Megan immediately began taking his vitals, knowing there weren't enough machines around for every single patient coming in. As she took the vitals, the man began seizing. Megan immediately went to work, only thinking about her training, nothing else. She immediately ran to the medicine, pulling out the only things she knew would work to stop a seizure.

When she ran back, she saw that he was lying there lifeless. She clasped her hands to her mouth, never having a patient die on her like that. She did what she had to do, though. With shaking hands, she placed the sheet over him. She backed away, looking to her left seeing her purse, knowing her phone was in there. "Oh my god, April."

She ran to her phone, dialing her number with shaking hands. She had to know she was okay. This was happening where she lived and there was no news on the President or his family. She shut her eyes once the phone picked up to an automated voice. "The cellular service in the area you are calling has been suspended temporarily."

Megan hung up the phone, not knowing what to do. This was her best friend and she didn't even know if she was alive or not. "I got a head trauma six-year-old girl!" Megan turned to the doctor wheeling in a little girl with bandages on her head, trying to stop the bleeding. Megan knew there was only one thing she could do. She had to focus on her work and help people. That's what April would want her to do, anyway.

* * *

 _ **9:08pm**_

"Bring Mr. Asher over here." Kang commanded in the bunker, Forbes complying, cutting off his zip ties as everyone else pleaded for him not to. When Forbes dragged Ben to stand right in front of Kang, he leaned against the computer desk looking as cocky as ever. "I have no interest in your nuclear launch codes. By now your Pentagon has changed them, no?" An intense staring match continued before Kang gave Forbes his next command. "Sit."

Forbes practically threw him down in his chair, but Ben didn't take his eyes off of Kang. "Are you from the North?" He snarled. "Because you're sure as hell not from the South."

One of the other minions handcuffed Ben to the chair as Kang moved closer to him. "I'm working for justice. To give millions of starving men, women and children a chance at more than just substance. To end the civil war your country interrupted so long ago." That's when Ben gave him a face you thought you would only be able to see on April. That winning smirk. "And yes, for a united, prosperous Korea."

"It's a whole new world, baby." Forbes interrupted, giving him another April look of anger.

Ben then looked away from him, showing him that he didn't care about him. "What's the going rate for souls these days?"

Forbes then turned him around, Ben putting on that smirk again. "What did you say to me?!"

"I never would have taken you for a trader." Ben snarled out.

"Me?!" Forbes almost screamed, Ben enjoying that he was getting a rise out of him. "What about you? You sold this country out long before I ever did. Globalization and fucking Wall Street. What's it cost to buy a presidency now-a-days? Five hundred million dollars?" Forbes crouched down in front of him, giving Ben the perfect idea. "I'm a fucking rookie compared to you."

Ben leaned in, head butting Forbes right in the eyebrow where he knew it would hurt. One of the men pushed Ben back as Forbes stumbled against the railing in there. "Gotta keep your gloves up, Forbes." Ben spoke with a cocky smile, going back to the boxing he used to practice.

Forbes pulled his gun out on Ben, Kang interrupting him immediately. He then began to speak something in his native tongue, but Ben could make out two parts of what he said. April and Conner. Ben's eyes turned cold, almost murderous. "What about April and Conner?" When Ben didn't get an immediate answer, the anger festered. He jumped out of his seat, one of the men trying to hold him back, but there was so much you could do to keep a man from snapping the neck of someone who mentioned his kids in that way. "What the fuck are you gonna do with my kids?!"

"That's the worst thing about all of this." Forbes interjected, going back to his calm, cool collectedness. "We're gonna have to kill your super-hot daughter." The terrorists found amusement in it, smiling as he continued to struggle.

* * *

 _ **9:26pm**_

April leaned her head against the brick, trying not to fall asleep as Conner's head laid on her lap. If something happened while she dozed off, she would never be able to forgive herself. She pet his hair, catching herself mesmerized by him. She remembered when her parents brought him home from the hospital. She was seven and she was not thrilled, but the second she saw her baby brother, it had all changed. He had become her everything and something like that would never change.

"April," Conner began.

"Yeah?" She asked, continuing to pet his hair.

"Where do you think Dad is right now?"

April took a deep sigh. She had no idea where her dad was right now, but the thoughts that were running through her mind weren't good things. "He's in the bunker." She spoke with an obvious shrug. "And everyone down there is protecting him."

Conner finally sat up, looking her right in the eye. "I'm thirteen. I'm not stupid."

April sighed, not knowing what to say to him. "Conner, I can't tell you where Dad is right now or if he's even okay, but I can help you feel better."

Conner nodded before resting his head on her shoulder. Silence passed over them, the two actually feeling comfortable in this hell. "April?" Conner began again.

"Yeah?"

"Do you regret not starting things up again with Mike sooner?"

That question was like a jab to her heart. All she thought about since they got into these walls was Mike. She didn't even know if he was okay. Tears were falling down her face, knowing that if something happened to him, she would feel awful. "Yes." She cried out, the only thoughts that could run through her mind we're Mike and that big smile she loved.

* * *

 _ **9:54pm**_

Mike moved through the secret doors ending him in the Oval Office. He looked all around, knowing this was the last place he saw April. Things were destroyed and the room was filled with dust and debris, but no blood. He took a sigh of relief, taking that as a good thing.

He moved to the hotline, picking it up, but there was nothing on the other line. With a sigh, he moved to the framed picture of the Statue of Liberty which had a code safe behind it just like the one in the surveillance room. When he unlocked the safe, he noticed the satellite phone and everything else in there except the gun. That made a big smile come to his face, knowing why April had gone in there in the first place. "Good job, Showers." He put the satellite phone piece in his ear, immediately dialing the Pentagon number saved in it.

In the Pentagon, NSA director Ray Monroe was the first to get the message. "We have contact from inside the White House. Trace confirms it's the President's sat phone."

Allan Trumbull leaned forward, completely intrigued and excited to know if the President was okay or not. "Put it through."

Mike identified himself, leaving Lynne speechless. She couldn't believe that out of all of her men, Mike was the one inside the White House. Almost after his identification clearance, General Clegg muted the phone, looking to Lynne with skepticism. "Can we trust him?"

"Banning was one of our best agents." She confirmed without a beat.

"Mr. Speaker," Ray Monroe spoke, everyone turning to look at him. "I just have to say, isn't this the same guy that was removed from the President's detail after the accident where we lost the First Lady and had an alleged affair with the First Daughter?"

"Ray!" Lynne spoke, trying to cut him off to defend Mike.

"What is he doing in the White House?"

"Ray, you wanna add something I suggest you get your facts straight."

"I'm just saying, how do we know we can trust this guy?"

"Banning is ex-Special Forces, Ranger battalion. He will move mountains or die trying. And he will do anything to save that family. Especially locate April and Conner." Allan nodded, knowing if they could have one guy stuck in this, they were lucky it was him. "I know him."

He looked around the room, knowing that a lot of people around were second guessing this decision. "Does anyone else in this room have any intelligence coming out of the White House?" Everyone was silent, confirming the answer they all knew. "Then we have no choice."

He unmuted the call, Mike expecting it, knowing they had to talk it over. "The President's in the bunker. He's being held hostage."

Mike gave them the rundown on what was happening in the White House as he deleted all the classified files, but there was still something poking at his brain. Maybe they knew something about April. "Where's April and Connor?"

"We have no status of their location, but they're presumed to still be inside." Lynne informed, knowing Mike wanted to know maybe more than all of them in the Pentagon.

"Well, they're looking for them." Mike got angry thinking about it all over again. "They have a photo of them." Mike sighed, knowing that even if he had to keep true to his original mission of saving April, he could do something for them too. "Sir," He spoke to Mr. Trumbull. "I'm here. Use me."

"Okay, Banning." Lynne spoke, starting to feel a bit of hope for the first time all night. "Sit tight. We'll get back with you."

When the call ended, Mike looked around at all the pictures on the President's desk, but one stood out among the others. It was a picture of him and April. It had to have been before her mom's death. Hell, before they even realized they were in love with each other. They were both laughing, a sparkle in both of their eyes. They were in love even then. They were just too stupid to notice. Mike began to laugh, tears poking at his eyes just wishing she was next to him. He almost wished they could go back.

* * *

 _ **11:56pm**_

Mike had gotten the information on Cerberus, getting more guns and body armor from other members of the terrorist situation. And Kang also found out about Mike. A crew was on the way to find and kill him. Mike moved into the Lincoln Bedroom, April hearing the door close from inside the walls. Conner held onto her shirt from fear as she pushed her gun out. She had been to the shooting range before. With her dad and with Mike. She was also told she was a pretty good shot. She was hoping she could be a good shot on someone trying to kill them.

Mike moved into the walls, April and Conner able to hear the secret door open and close. April steadied her grip on the gun as Conner placed a hand on his mouth to quiet his breathing. They could hear the footsteps getting closer. April didn't want to shoot, but she knew if this was someone trying to kill them, she would have to.

Both Mike and April stepped out from behind the corner, guns trained on each other, but when they noticed it was each other, April dropped hers as Mike let his fall to the side. "Mike." She whispered from happiness before throwing herself into his arms. Neither of them wasted any time, their lips crashing together. April never wanted to let go. She felt safe for the first time in the whole day.

Mike pulled away noticing the tears flowing down April's face. With a smile, he wiped one away from her cheek with his thumb, staring at her with loving eyes. "I found you."

April gasped a little from the tears before giving him a smile. "I knew you would."

"Mike!" Conner yelled as he ran to him, Mike immediately scooping him up in his arms for a tight hug, but April was still holding onto Mike's arm. She knew it was crazy, but she felt like if she didn't hold him, he wouldn't be there anymore.

Mike looked to April, still embracing Conner. "Are you two okay?"

"We're fine." She whispered to him as he put Conner down, all of them getting down so they could discuss their next move from there.

"I see this is still your favorite hiding place, huh?" Mike turned to the ear piece in his ear. "I found Showers and Sparkplug. They're safe. I'm bringing them out."

April looked to him confused. The way he said that. It was like he didn't plan on coming with them. "What about my dad?" Conner asked, worry all through his voice, bringing April back to the moment.

"Your dad's gonna be fine, okay? Nothing bad is going to happen." Mike turned to April, grabbing her hand, knowing she didn't believe that for one second. "We're gonna get him out of here."

April nodded to him when they heard steps just outside. April automatically grabbed her gun from the ground as Mike put a finger to his lips. The three began to slowly stand up, Mike wrapping his arm around April as April wrapped hers around Conner. Mike counted to three before they ran, both April and Mike shooting off their guns as the men on the other side of the wall tried to shoot them as well.

They made it out without any of them getting hurt and hurried off to make it to the ventilation system, April still holding onto him, but Mike didn't mind. He didn't want to let her go, but he knew he had to get her to safety. That was going to be the hardest part about all of this.

 _ **stormrunner74: Oh my gosh, I know. I love Lynne. Am still sad about what happened in London Has Fallen. And I know I will continue, but it might not be right away because I have some other fanfics that are waiting on sequels so we'll just see how it plays out, but I'll definitely let you guys know when it goes up.**_

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: The part where April and Mike saw each other through all the chaos had to be one of my favorite things to write so thanks for giving it a compliment.**_

 _ **CoolCat0720: Haha I wish I could have put this chapter up immediately after the last one especially since I left off with a cliff hanger.**_

 _ **Igor Blonsky: It's the perfect job for him! Hahaha. PS: we're getting close to the killing with bare hands parts hehehe**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: I'm so excited for you guys to read it**_

 _ **Kagome309: Yes! I was just waiting and am so happy you guys are finally gonna read it.**_

 _ **Wow, guys y'all's support has been fantastic. Keep it up! I'm so excited for you guys to read the movie! I don't want to write out every scene in the movie so I skipped around a lot in this chapter and there wasn't much April, but now that Mike's found her, we're gonna get a lot more April! Again, thank you so much for the support and remember to review!**_


	19. All of Your Glory

Mike checked the entire area before allowing April and Conner to join him down the stairs. April spent that whole time looking at him. After all of this, she couldn't just leave him. "Come on." Mike encouraged, April taking Conner's hand and leading him down.

"Mike," April started, Mike's eyes still focused on getting them to the vent. "We have to be smart about this."

"That's why I'm getting you both the hell out of here." He had an edge to his voice, one April didn't like at all. When they got to the vent, Mike stopped, putting his hand on the vent before pushing his forehead to it as April just continued to stare at him. He turned to look at her with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry. I've had a day."

"You've had a day?!" She spoke in a hushed whisper. "I was getting ready to go on a date when my house got shot at and attacked!"

Mike's eyes grew wide, leaning in closer to her. "Was it a date?"

"Guys!" Conner spoke, irritated with their arguing. "We can do this later when we get out of here."

Mike turned back to the vent, working on getting the screws undone. "Jacobs, I got Showers and Sparkplug, they're coming out of the ventilation shaft in the northwest corner."

"Sparkplug is." April corrected. "I'm staying."

"No the hell you're not." Mike spoke, deciding not to be distracted by April.

"How are you two gonna fit through that?" Conner interrupted before April could say more. Honestly, Conner was tuning out their arguing, just watching to make sure no one else was coming after them. "You're coming with me, right?"

April put a hand on her hip as she turned to look at Mike who ignored her and simply looked to Conner. "I gotta go get your dad. And April," he turned to look at her as he crouched down to talk to Conner. "I'm gonna get April out another way." April scoffed with an eye roll as Mike turned to look back to Conner. "You can do this, remember the chimney climb I taught you on the Rose Garden wall?" Conner nodded but April was still worried about him. She knew he could do this, but she didn't think she would ever be able to shake off how scared she was for him.

"Hey," April spoke, moving up to him, pulling his head up so he could look her in the eye. "Promise me you're gonna be careful." He just nodded at her, April hating that she was going to have to leave him. "I love you." He nodded before giving her a tight hug and when they pulled apart, April looked up the vent he was going to have to climb up, wishing there was time to make sure it was completely safe.

"Mike," Conner whispered, catching April's attention at the sound of his shaking voice. "I'm scared."

April looked to Mike, taking a deep breath, knowing the two adults were freaking out too. They couldn't even imagine what it was like for Conner right now. "Me too." He assured him while rubbing his arms. "But you're gonna get through it." He slowly handed over his Secret Service badge to him, giving him a wide smile. "You're one of us now." Conner took it from with a smile before putting it on his belt. "I'm counting on you, kiddo."

Mike picked Conner up by the legs, helping him getting into the vent as April hurried to the stairs, making sure no one else was coming after them. There was suddenly sounds coming from upstairs, April looking to Mike with a panicked face. "Hold up, Conner." Mike advised before hurrying to April, pulling her behind one of the walls to hide and surprise them.

He pushed April up to the wall, him standing behind her just waiting until April felt a little something she hadn't felt in a while. "Um," April whispered. "You might want to check and make sure everything is all right downstairs."

Mike let out a sigh while shaking his head. "Yeah, well, I can't control that."

April turned to him, slightly confused. "Really? Me in this position turns you on."

"Babe," Mike spoke in a scoff. "You in _any_ position turns me on."

April bit her lip as she looked down with a shy smile. "We're all still here, Mike." Lynne spoke, April being able to hear that too. "All of us in the Pentagon listening."

"Well then I guess everyone in there who had questions about our relationship knows now." Lynne rolled her eyes as Monroe nodded in a kind of I-told-you-so way.

They began to hear someone come down the stairs, April putting a hand on her mouth to quiet her breath, praying that he wouldn't be able to find Conner. The guy moved up to the vent, Mike grabbing him by the back of the neck and holding him in a choke hold. April came out from behind the wall, all she could do was watch. Mike sat him down as he gasped for breath, holding him there in pain for a long moment before he snapped his neck.

He got completely still, making April let out a few panicked breaths before he threw him to the side. Mike moved past her to get to Conner, telling him it was just a false alarm and he could keep going, but April just kept looking at the man Mike had killed.

Mike turned her around quickly, making her jump as her breath was quick. "Are you okay?"

April stuttered for words, looking back to the dead man on the floor. "You killed him."

"To protect you and your brother."

"No." April spoke as she turned back to him, Mike's eyebrows furrowing at what she was getting at. "I know." April was still struggling for words, not sure how to say this next part. How the hell would Mike think of her after she said this? "Teach me."

Mike's eyes got slightly wide before he thought about it. He could use someone on his side in here. April was a great shot and she was a great fighter. She also knew the place just as well as he did. Maybe she was right. Maybe April did have to stay here with him. April sighed, looking to him with pleading eyes. "We have to smart about this." She repeated, now knowing what she was getting at. She wanted to stay with him. She wanted to fight with him and there was no way she was getting out the same way Conner was. It would eat up too much of their time trying to find another way for her to get out.

Mike sighed, knowing this wasn't the best idea, but it also wasn't the worst. He moved closer to her. "You stay behind me at all times, okay?" She nodded eagerly as he took off his bullet proof vest and began to strap her in it. "And you keep this on at all times." He looked her right in the eye to let her know he was serious. "You do what I say when I say it." He grabbed her face in his hands, making sure she was truly looking right in his eyes. "April, I'm serious, if anything happens to you out here while I'm – " April cut him off by leaning in and kissing him, making sure to place her hands on his face as his hands traveled to the back of her neck.

When April kissed him, she wanted to assure him in some way that she was going to be okay and that she had learned to look after herself. She hoped he got her message when they pulled away. She stroked his face once, looking into those pretty blue eyes before whispering. "Everything's gonna be okay."

"Sparkplug received." Lynne spoke into the phone leaving a huge smile on both Mike and April's faces as they leaned in for another hug, celebrating their small victory. April was just happy he actually agreed for her to go with him!

* * *

All the nurses and doctors took this much needed lull time to watch the press conference Speaker Trumbull was giving. Megan pushed her way through the crowd to be able to see the TV, hoping on some news on April since her phone wasn't working. "I want to reassure all Americans and everyone around the world that despite today's events, our government remains one hundred percent functional. We know that the President is alive."

Megan began to chew on her thumbnail, waiting for more news on the family that didn't come. "Yeah, but what about April?" She whispered to herself. A few of the nearby nurses, medical assistants and doctors heard her, immediately turning around to her with fearful looks. That's when she knew that _everyone_ around her was worried about what was going on with their coworker. They just didn't want to say it because that would make it all the more real.

"To our friends, we are grateful for your loyalty and support. As a nation, we are never stronger than when tested. We will remain united and strong. God bless you all," Megan looked around to all of her coworkers, knowing they were all as scared as she was, but they had to keep going. They had to continue with their job. That's the only way they were going to help their country and that was the only way they were going to keep their minds off of what was really going on out there. "And God bless these United States of America."

* * *

April and Mike inched out from where they saw two men walking, Mike starting it off, punching one in the face and kicking the other back. April went to the one Mike had kicked, pistol whipping him, causing him to fall down immediately. Mike turned to look at her once he had finished knocking his guy out. He looked over April's work giving her a proud smile. "Nice work on the blow to the head. Right where I taught you to hit."

She looked up at him, giving Mike a proud, cheesy smile before leaning down and dragging her guy off into the Oval Office as Mike followed her. Mike tied each of them down, making sure to put a cloth over their mouths as he and April sat in front of them, April making sure to look like the toughest person she could.

"Hey, asshole." Mike spoke once they had woken up. "Who's running the show?" Mike was playing with a knife in front of them, making sure to look intimidating, April picking up that he was slightly teaching her what to do. "Do you speak English? Do they teach you that where you come from?" They just continued to sit there, looking uninterested in what he was saying. "Because you know what they teach me, is how to extract information from people like you?"

The one closest to Mike began to laugh, making the other one start to laugh as well. Both Mike and April looked bath and forth at them, Mike starting to laugh with them. "That's funny, huh?" He continued to laugh as he looked back and forth at the two. "Yeah I know it's funny. I get it."

Suddenly, without any warning, Mike stood up, jamming his knife into the brain of the guy in front of him. April gasped just a little bit before looking away. She knew this was something they had to do. These men were trying to kill them for god's sake. And she knew Mike had to do a lot of things in the military. A lot of killing. But she had never seen him like this. And she didn't know how to react to it.

Mike sat back down, rubbing the blood off of his knife on the pants of the other guy, April finding the whole thing sickening. April just kept her mind wondering on if someone was doing this to her. She couldn't think of them as humans though. That was the first rule Mike had given her. She was going to try a lot harder at it now.

"Yeah," Mike spoke, looking the only guy left in the eye. "I guess I'm a little rusty."

"Yeah," April spoke, looking over the dead guy, reminding herself on what Mike had told her. "I like your friend though." She looked back to the guy, giving him a chuckle. "He seemed like a real funny guy." Mike looked to her, impressed she was catching on so quick.

The guy began yelling at her, his voice muffled, but April could already guess he was calling her a bitch. "What's your leader's name?" Mike asked, looking back to the man. Mike then began to laugh, realizing something. "Oh, I'm sorry, here." Mike pulled down the cloth over his mouth so they could actually comprehend what he was saying. "How many men you with?"

He immediately began talking in his native tongue, April putting a hand over his mouth so he wouldn't scream as she gabbed the knife she held onto in his leg. Mike jumped a little as he screamed, not expecting that from her at all. He was now starting to get worried about April. He was glad that she was catching onto all of this so quick, but at the same time, he didn't want her to be so harsh and forget everything about herself. "In English." She snarled before tearing her knife out of his leg. Mike gulped, knowing that maybe they should try couple's therapy after this. Because they were both gonna need it.

* * *

 _ **12:23am**_

The two got all the information they could on Kang and relayed it back to the Pentagon, Mike now finding a new bulletproof vest from one of the guys they had killed. Now, Mike and April were walking around the house doing some recon. That was until someone came into Mike's earpiece. "Agent Banning." They both stopped dead in their tracks, April giving him a panicked look before hurrying to his ear so she could hear better. "Yes, I know who you are." She looked to him, a mix of fear and anger. This had to be the guy who had taken her dad. "Welcome to my house."

April felt her hands close into a tight fist. She wanted to get her hands on him in that minute. Knock that smirk right off of his face that she knew he just had to have on. Mike took out his mouth piece, putting it up to talk back. "Hey, asshole, what took you so long?"

"You're the one that let the First Lady die, no?" April grew rigid at the mention of her mother. Now she really wanted to kill this guy. "And soon the President."

Mike's hand immediately connected to April's. If asked about it, he would say it was to calm her down, but in all reality, he needed it just as much as she did. "Failure seems to be a habit with you."

"Yeah, well," he spoke as he leaned against one of the walls. "Maybe I owe you for giving me the chance for making up for that today."

"I admire you for acknowledging your failure." April was fighting her everything to yell out at Kang and letting him know that he would never be half the man Mike was, but she couldn't. He couldn't know she was there with him so she had to remain as silent as possible. "But there's no going back. Nothing you try and do here tonight can atone."

"Yeah, maybe not." He spoke with a shrug. April could tell there was some part of his words that were getting to him deep down. "But I reckon fucking your shit up will be a pretty good start. You may want to take a headcount. The bodies are piling up."

"I have more than enough men to finish the mission." He spoke with the shake of the head.

"Oh," Mike spoke, almost like he forgot to mention it. "If you're looking for April and Conner, they're on their way to the baseball game." Mike made sure to go over his words in his head a few times before saying it out loud, making sure to say "they" instead of "he".

"How is April, Michael?" April looked to Mike with furrowed brows. "You two did fall in love when you were working in the White House, right?" Mike turned to look at her, shaking his head the longer he talked. "What was that like? Feeling her skin and touching her all over while her father worked just a floor away." Mike let his head fall back onto the wall he was leaning on, taking deep breaths. "And she's going to school to be a nurse, huh? She saves lives…too bad she won't be there to save yours."

"You know what," Mike spoke, being able to put up with all of the crap he threw about him, but having him talk about April was driving him crazy. "How about we play a game of 'fuck off'. You go first."

Mike ended the transmission, standing up, not giving April the appropriate time to follow him. "I'm gonna kill him."

April sighed, rolling her eyes at him slightly before following after him. Little did they know, someone they would see as a friend was on their way to kill them. Someone they didn't expect at all. Dave Forbes.

* * *

 _ **1:04am**_

Mike and April walked through the halls in silence, not sure what to really say to each other. It was like this whole thing had stunned them silent. April then thought of something she had been wanting to ask Mike. Something she had kept quiet about for so long she almost forgot she wanted to ask Mike about it. Right now and right here, they could die any moment and she didn't want to die without knowing the answer to this.

"Mike," she spoke, breaking their long bout of silence. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah." He wasn't really looking at her, though. He was looking straight ahead, trying to assess any threat that could come for them. Right now, though, it was quiet.

April looked down, knowing this was going to be awkward. "Why did you break things off when my mom died?" Mike actually stopped walking, looking straight, trying to figure out how he was going to answer this. "You never really gave me an answer." He turned to look at her, seeing how serious she was. "I think I deserve an answer."

Mike shook his head, not sure how to answer her at all before turning away. "That's a really complicated question, April."

April sighed, trying to keep her anger at bay, but this was just too sensitive for her to not get angry with him. "No." She spoke with the roll of an eye. "It's really not."

She began to walk off, Mike hurrying after her, grabbing her by the arm and turning her around. "Hey, what did I tell you about staying behind me?"

April ripped her arm out of his grasp before shoving him slightly. "You're not my boyfriend! You can't control me!"

"Keep your voice down." He hissed in a whisper before looking around to see if anyone had found them.

"No." She spoke defiantly. "I don't care who hears me because I need to get this off of my chest!" Mike looked around, panicked, but no one seemed to notice them so he turned back to her, letting her do what she had to do. "I talked to a therapist after my mom died and we talked a lot about you, and do you know what we decided?" His brows furrowed, waiting for what she had to say. "That you were scared after what happened and you felt guilty." She had to pause, finding herself getting emotional. "That you would come around. That you would _change_ if you really wanted to be with me." She shook her head at him. "But you know what I just figured out? You won't ever change and I was stupid to think you would. That you would actually do something for me and not yourself."

She turned around quickly, trying to hurry off as Mike just continued to stand there. He was getting angry. He hurried to her, turning her around again. "That is not what happened."

"I swear to God, Mike, if you grab me like that one more time…"

" _I_ wouldn't change for _you_?"

"You won't!"

"I changed _everything_ for you!" April simply scoffed. Mike knew she deserved the whole story, but he didn't just want to throw Ben under the bus like that. "You want to know what happened? You want to know why I broke things off?" She shrugged like it was obvious. He hated to tell her the truth, but this had just gone on long enough. Mike looked down, hating that he was the one who had to tell her this. "Your dad asked me to, April."

April was stunned. She had to blink a few times, make sure she heard him right, but she knew she did. Her mouth opened, letting the silence linger before she finally asked, "Why?"

"He knew I was too dangerous for you." Mike looked away from her, not wanting to look her in eye. "And he was right."

She moved toward him, closing the space between the two before cupping his face in her hands. "Mike." She whispered. He finally looked up at her, looking so insanely broken in that moment. "If you don't know anything else, know this, dangerous things don't happen because of you."

"But they happen around me." He told her with a nod.

"Mike," April almost laughed out. "I'm the president's daughter. I'm pretty sure they happen around me." She brushed his hair with her hands, making their eyes match again. "I don't care what happens or what my dad thinks because without you, I'm lost." Mike looked all over her face, actually wishing they were able to have this talk earlier. They could have saved so much time. "I love _you_. I will always love you. You're the one person I've loved through everything, and no amount of chaos could keep me from you. I want _you_. Not just bits and pieces. _All_ of you."

Mike looked to her, remembering why he fell in love with her. That compassion was never ending. Here he was thinking about all the ways it could have gone wrong, but April would never let that happen. She loved him and he was stupid to think that would ever change. "I love you." He whispered seriously, making sure to look right into those deep blue eyes as he said it. He had never loved her more.

"I love you." She whispered right back before getting on her toes to give him a kiss. No matter what happened tonight, what they saw, it was all a little less scary because they knew at the end of this, they would have each other. That's when they heard someone else walking through the halls.

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Yes, go April! She continues to get slightly more bad ass.**_

 _ **CoolCat0720: Here you go, love!**_

 _ **Igor Blonsky: Mike's gonna ask him about the picture later on so we'll find out soon.**_

 _ **Kagome309: Your review seriously made my day! Thanks, love!**_

 _ **I have 88 reviews so let's get this story to a hundred in the next few chapters! That would be super awesome if we can make that happen! I hope you all liked this chapter and April being a little bad ass. She's gonna get a little darker in the next few chapters because I wanted to play around with that survival instinct and what all someone like April would do to survive in this situation. Also, the part where April finds out why Mike broke things off was inspired by All of Your Glory by Broods which the chapter is also named after. So, give it a listen, it's a great song and very Mike/April. Thanks for the read, you guys! Remember to review!**_


	20. The Fallout

Forbes made his way down one of the hallways, gun pointed straight out. Bodies fell in different places in the corridor as a light swung back and forth, probably coming loose from one of the many bullets that flew through the hallway. He knew his mission was to kill Mike, but he didn't know how he was going to accomplish this. Mike was a better agent and he was way too smart to be snuck up on. It was leaving Forbes with an internal battle.

That's when he heard a gun cock back. He froze in that moment as he was grabbed by the shoulders and then thrown into a wall. "Mike." He immediately said once his thoughts were confirmed on who it was. There was one thing that surprised him, though. "April." He thought she had made it out. "It's me."

"Dave?" Mike asked, completely confused at his presence.

"Forbes?"

"You two scared the shit out of me."

"Jesus." April spoke as she pushed her hair back, looking to Mike in panic.

"What the fuck?" Mike asked Forbes, all of them reveling in the confusion without really asking what was going on.

"Just put that thing down." He spoke, noticing April had a gun in her hand too. " _Things_."

They both did as he said, April putting it in the holster of the vest. "I almost blew your fucking brains out." Mike told him with the shake of the head. "What are you doing here?"

"I was with the South Korean delegation." He explained quickly, both of them nodding their head, that small information making sense. "What the fuck are you two doing here?" Mike put his arm around April's lower back as they talked, Forbes taking that information in automatically. He knew Kang was gonna kill April, but he didn't think he would be the one that would have to. That changed things. A lot of things. "I thought you were working at the Treasury."

"Yeah, I am." He spoke as he looked over to April. "Believe it or not, I came in through the front door."

Forbes began to let out long, relaxing breaths. "Fuck, April, you must have been scared out of your mind." She shrugged in confirmation. "Why aren't you in the bunker?"

April shrugged, finding herself shaking, thinking about it all over again. "I didn't get there in time for them to start shooting up the place. I hid in the walls."

Forbes nodded, knowing they should have checked the walls first. "God." Forbes spoke, throwing his head against the wall as he slid down it, pulling out his cigarettes once he sat down. "I saw my life flash in front of me." He brought out his hand once he had a cigarette in his mouth. "Look at my hand. I'm fucking shaking." Really, he was shaking because he was scared for what was going to happen in the next few minutes.

Mike and April both sat down in front of him, April finding herself leaning on Mike. She had actually felt safe finding someone else she knew in here. "It's good to see you, buddy." Mike spoke, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"You've got a funny way of showing it."

Once he finally lit his cigarette, he offered the pack up to Mike and April. Mike shook his head, but April automatically took one, letting Forbes light it for her. "I thought we were quitting." Mike told her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Um, I just spent five hours trapped in a wall fearing for my life so I think I deserve a cigarette."

Mike rolled his eyes at her as she blew out her first puff of smoke. Forbes was laughing at the two while shaking his head. "You two still fight like an old married couple." He pointed to their arms. "You two back together?"

"Yeah." They both answered with a nod without any amount of hesitation making them both turn to each other and smile. It was nice to know they had nothing to hide anymore.

"Hey," Forbes spoke, getting their attention back. "Is the President okay? What about Conner?"

"They got him in the bunker." Mike spoke. "And we got Conner out." Mike chuckled a little while looking around at just the destruction of the hall. "It's a fucking shit show, huh?"

"That's for sure." Forbes spoke with an eye roll. "Roma make it?" April quickly turned to Mike, not really thinking about the other agents until Forbes said something. Mike looked down before shaking his head, April turning away from him with deep breaths. Roma was one of the toughest guys she knew. He was practically indestructible in her eyes. To hear that he didn't make it, that he was dead somewhere in this house, it shook her to the core.

"We've gotta keep moving." Mike spoke, standing up suddenly, Forbes following quickly, but April stood up slowly, the thought of Roma still floating through her head.

Mike looked behind him and April finally looked up at Forbes. He was looking Mike up and down, almost like he was trying to see how he would take him down. April's head kind of turned to the side as she gripped her cigarette tightly and moved her hand to her holster. "You got a plan, Mike?"

"Yeah." He scoffed as he continued to look at the area. "It hasn't worked out so far."

Forbes laughed while shaking his head, but April wasn't going to take her eyes off of Forbes. Something was fishy about this whole thing. She didn't know if this whole situation had made her paranoid or if it had just made her more aware. In her mind, she came up with a plan of action in case Forbes really was there to betray them. "Fucking Mike." Forbes spoke through that laugh. "You always were a hard ass. You never change."

His face began to get serious, April taking a moment to look away from Forbes to give Mike a worried look out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, Dave." He spoke, looking to him with such concern.

April looked back to him, shaking, she didn't know what to do anymore. What if she was just reading too much into this? "This place is getting me rattled, man. I can't think straight."

"You okay?"

"Mike." April whispered. He looked to her, not sure what was getting her so shaken before looking back to Forbes. That's when he noticed April's hand on her holster.

"No." Forbes spoke with the shake of the head. "Not for real." Mike looked back down to April's hand, noticing she wasn't backing down. "This fucking Kang guy, he's crazy."

Both their eyes clicked to Forbes, noticing one detail he had that neither of them shared. "How do you know his name?" Mike asked, pulling his gun out of his holster.

Forbes looked down to the two and where their hands were, knowing the only way to get to them was to get to the other. "Hey, Mike," Forbes began with a laugh. "Do you remember New York?"

With that, he threw his cigarette at Mike, throwing him off for a moment as he hit him in the side of his head. April tried to get her gun, but Forbes grabbed her hand, twisting it before pulling her into his chest and putting a gun to her head.

When Mike looked to the two, he put his hands up, finger nowhere close to the trigger. April rolled her eyes, hating being the damsel in distress. She decided right there that this was going to be her last time as one. She gripped the cigarette in her hand tightly before slamming it into his eye, Forbes immediately dropping his gun and screaming before she kicked him right in the knee and breaking herself out of his grasp.

Mike charged at Forbes once April was clear, throwing him into the next room and into a table. The two wrestled when April ran in, Forbes's holding Mike's gun to the right as Mike pushed his hand away from him. Forbes ended up firing off two shots before April climbed on his back to get him off of Mike, sending her teeth into his shoulder. He backed up with her, slamming her into the wall a few times before she let go from the pain and hit the floor.

Forbes moved to her, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up off the ground as she scratched at his face with what little grip she had. That's when Mike came in, kicking him in the leg right in the spot he knew would break it. Forbes dropped April, April beginning to gasp for breath as Mike jabbed Forbes in the throat.

Forbes staggered away a little bit before pulling his knife out on Mike. April watched, fearful for what was going to happen. He slashed at Mike a few times, but he blocked every single one, giving April time to get up and sending a couple punches into his head, making him fall back. Forbes got up again, Mike pushing April behind him, his knife still out. He lunged forward and when the knife looked like it was going into Mike's abdomen, she screamed. But Mike caught his wrist, ripping the knife from his hand and stabbing him right in the heart, causing him to fall right to the ground, disabled to do anything else.

April let out deep breaths, feeling hate rush through her body as she saw him lying there like that. This was someone they trusted. He just tried to kill them both. He betrayed her father. All of them. She went forward, kicking him right in the head, Mike having to pull her back before she could do even more damage.

Mike slowly walked over to him, crouching down so he could look right at him. Forbes turned to him, blood pouring out of his mouth as April just stood back. If she got any closer to him, she knew she would finish him off. "Oh, Dave." Mike whispered while shaking his head.

"Why did you do it?" April asked, getting a little closer. She definitely didn't have the sympathy in her voice that Mike had.

"Fuck." He whispered, blood pouring out the left side of his mouth now. "I lost my way."

April shut her eyes at how broken his voice was. Maybe she was being a little too harsh. The man was dying right in front of her and she was giving him no compassion. That was something Mike always loved about her and she was slowly losing it.

"You can make up for it now." Mike whispered as he pulled out the satellite phone, Forbes trying to put his hand over his mouth as an attempt to stop some of the blood. "Tell Kang I'm dead and help me save the President and April."

Forbes looked to April, a flicker of a smile crossing his face as he moved to the mouth piece while Mike pressed the button for him. "Kang, it's Forbes." He sounded so weak, that compassion flooding back into April's system. "I got him. All clear."

"Good." was the only reply, leaving Mike to shut it off and stuff it back into his pocket.

Forbes looked to Mike, nodding, knowing what he had to do. Before Mike could make any movements, April moved toward him, sitting down with him and grabbing his hand. She moved to his face, placing a soft, meaningful kiss on his cheek, looking him right in the eye and brushing his hair back. With that, she stood up next to Mike as he leaned forward, quickly pushing a knife through his brain as April flinched away, not wanting to see what his face was going to be frozen as.

* * *

 _ **1:32am**_

Ben and Ruth were tied up side by side, Ruth's head hanging in pain from the beating she got from Kang and his men. Ben's head was hung down in thought, mostly of where April and Conner were right now. "Ruth," Ben began, head still down.

"Mr. President?" She asked, half turning to him.

He turned to her with a bit of a smile. "Rough day."

"Could be worse." She spoke jokingly with a shrug. "How's my hair?"

He laughed as he turned to look at her, glancing her hair over before responding. "Not a strand out of place." She smiled too, knowing that was a huge lie. Ben's face suddenly got serious. "Any regrets?"

"None." She spoke confidently with the shake of the head. "You?"

Ben looked down, thinking about that for a moment. "A few." His biggest one was forcing Mike and April apart. At the end of the day, no matter how hard he tried to protect her, she could make her own decisions, and Mike got her out of here. He saved her. That and forcing Mike out had to be his biggest regrets. He finally looked up at Ruth with a smile, deciding to go with the less serious regret. "Like running for president."

"The office is lucky to have you, sir." She told him seriously, making Ben smile for just a bit longer before going back into his own world, thinking about April and Conner all over again.

* * *

 _ **1:35am**_

In the Pentagon, they were discussing a plan of attack, one that would go directly against everything Kang ordered them to do. General Clegg moved forward, looking and the footage he was being sent of the White House. "Looks like there's only four sentries on the roof. With the Air Defense grid gone, they're vulnerable to an aerial insertion."

"Wait," Mike commanded as he and April both hurried up the stairs. "Let us get there first and check it out."

"We're not waiting." General Clegg spoke.

"We have to secure Cerberus." Speaker Trumbull spoke as both Mike and April gave each other a panicked look.

"Oh, fuck." Mike spoke before turning to look at April as they stood at the bottom of the steps to get to the roof. "Okay, April," he began, trying to look at her as seriously as he could. "You're gonna have to stay here."

"Bullshit." She spoke automatically while shaking her head. "I am going with you."

"April," he sighed out, almost begging with her. "Just please listen to me." He moved forward, grabbing her hands in his, fear running through her whole body as their eyes met. "If anything happens to you up there, I will not be able to forgive myself."

"And if anything happens to you up there and I'm not with you, _I'm_ not gonna be able to forgive myself." April moved closer to him, tears falling down her cheeks now. "Mike, just stay with me." It was hurting him just to look at her. "We've done our part. Let's just get out of here and we can wait it out until morning." She shut her eyes as she let out a gasp from the tears. "Please, Mike, just don't go."

He moved one of his hands to her cheek, looking her right in the teary eyes. "Hey," She continued to cry as he rubbed his thumb on her cheek to wipe them away. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, but I am not leaving like that. It's not who I am and you told me you wanted _all_ of me. This is all of me, April."

April shook her head at him, looking at their hands before looking up at his face once more. "Why are you talking like you're not gonna come back?" Mike looked down at that, knowing he was guilty. It was hard to say if he _was_ going to come back with how serious this was all getting. "Listen to me." She was full of distress, but she was going to get this out. "You're coming back to me. You're gonna find me like you found me before. That's the only rule. That's the _only_ condition."

Mike moved his remaining hand from hers to cup her face in both of his hands before giving her a soft kiss. When he pulled apart, April was still crying, but he was going to say one thing that would make her feel just a little better. "I'm gonna find you."

April gasped just a little bit, wishing he wasn't going, but at the same time, she knew he had to. "I know you will."

He hated to leave, but this was the only way he was going to save her and her father. He slowly released the grip he had on her cheeks before backing away. He turned around, not really wanting to look at her as he got to the bottom of the steps in fear that he wouldn't want to do his job. He just had to see that face one more time even if it was crying and broken. He turned around, watching her as she cried. He couldn't just leave like this. Not without saying one important thing.

He hurried back to her, grabbing her again, his lips crashing with hers as his tongue invaded her mouth. April rated it as one of the top five kisses they had shared, so good, she didn't want to ever part from him. Mike broke apart, stroking her cheeks again. "I love you."

April shut her eyes as she leaned her forehead to his, breathing in his familiar scent. "I love you."

* * *

The SEALs began their flight to the White House in multiple helicopters, but no one would have guessed that the Koreans were one step ahead, having a drone flying around the area to spy. "Here they come." The woman monitoring the computer reported as she maneuvered the drone to get a better look.

Kang moved to his ear piece, pushing it further into his ear. "Is the Hydra assembled?"

Men were in the supply room just under the entrance to the roof, getting together the last minute checks on the weapon waiting in case they tried anything like this. "Weapon is ready?"

"Stand by to repel boarders." Kang commanded as the man nodded, taking in the information before moving to the weapon, beginning to rise it up onto the roof.

All the men moved to the weapon just as Mike poked his head through, finally getting a visual of what was going on. He moved further into the room, knowing the men were distracted more with getting everything ready. When he moved to the control panel, he saw what this mystery weapon was along with the loads of ammunition they had. "Fuck." Mike whispered, holding his gun just a little tighter.

* * *

April was downstairs, finding herself pacing. She was just so worried about Mike. If anything happened to him and she wasn't there, that would be the hardest thing for her to take. As she continued her pacing, she began to hear footsteps from behind her.

April looked down the steps she was just above, moving a little closer to hear better. She could hear muffling talking in a foreign tongue, causing her to panic for a moment. She looked around, wondering if there was anything she could hide behind. There wasn't anything around, but the shadows. She could hide there. She didn't want this to escalate, but she was prepared to if she had to.

* * *

Mike began trying to unlock the weapon, but every attempt was a wrong one. "Jacobs," he spoke like he was talking to a child who had just done something wrong. "You've got to abort this mission. They've got the Hydra 6."

In the Pentagon, Lynne turned to look at General Clegg who seemed to stiffen at the mention of the weapon. "What is that?"

"Next generation weaponry." Lynne's eyes grew wide at that. "Ours."

"How the hell would they get that?" She demanded as Trumbull moved even closer to the screen, feeling like this plan was sinking before it truly started.

"It doesn't matter." Clegg said, eyes trained on the screen, not showing the fear haunting the back of his mind. "We'll take it out."

Mike was panicking on the other side of the conversation, knowing he wasn't going to be able to deprogram it and these men were flying into their deaths. "I said abort this fucking mission!"

Mike could hear someone coming into the room, Mike sighing because he knew there was no way he was going to be able to hide in time. Mike ran at the man, pushing his gun to the side before shooting him in the leg and shooting the man coming for him. He then used the first guy as a human shield before shooting the other men trying to come for him.

* * *

April put her hand over her mouth so she could take the deep, scared breaths she was holding onto. She gripped her gun tighter, finding herself shaking. She could hear the footsteps and conversation getting even closer.

She slowly put her hand down from her mouth and let out a slow breath, curling her lips together to make it even slower. April knew what she had to do. This would be the first person she's ever killed. She had to do it, though. If these people got past her, they would go straight for Mike. She wasn't going to let that happen.

As soon as they made it up the stairs and onto her level, she pushed her gun out and pulled the trigger. The first one dropped, but there was one more and he had a bigger gun. "Shit." She cursed before hurrying out the way as the bullets sprayed the area she was just in. She ran up the first few steps before turning around and shooting him.

His gun stopped, but he wasn't dead yet. He just stood there, still blinking and moving. And his gun was going for April. She shut her eyes as she pushed her body down and shot her gun off four times until she heard his body hit the floor.

She was shaking when she opened up her eyes, seeing the two men she had just killed. With her hands shaking, she dropped her gun and let the tears she was holding in fall. She let out desperate cries as she put her hands to her chest. That's when everything she had done tonight rushed to her like a bad dream. She stabbed someone in the leg before demanding information. She shoved a cigarette into the eye of a man she had once called a friend. She had killed someone. Two people. They had families somewhere. All the men she had helped Mike kill had families somewhere. Sure, they were trying to kill her and they took over her house, but she couldn't help this remorse eating away at her.

* * *

Once the SEALs made it to the White House, the Hydra extended out of roof, shooting down the helicopter in front. The helicopters weaved in and out of the shard of bullets, getting a spray here and there, but dodging the most of it.

Mike could see all the bullet shells fall to the ground, knowing that those men were dying out there. Mike killed the last remaining terrorist in the room before ascending to the staircase that would lead him to the roof, making sure to grab one thing he knew would work in taking out the Hydra. An RPG.

The helicopters were dropping like flies as well as the crew in them. One helicopter crashed on the White House lawn, leaving all the bystanders speechless. Only two helicopters were left for Trumbull to demand an abort mission.

Mike made it to the roof, the wind hitting him hard as he looked at all the madness before him. The helicopters were still shooting, Mike having to hide by the door so he wouldn't be shot. Once the helicopters were making their way out, Mike took that opportunity to take out the Hydra. Once it blew, he was forced down, the explosion shaking his core.

The last helicopter had suffered motor failure from the bullets and ended up spinning on its way down, headed straight for the White House. Once Mike saw it coming down, he got up and ran, falling to one of the holes made in the ceiling, holding on so he wouldn't fall through. Then, the helicopter maneuvered, the blades going right for him.

Mike was forced to let go, bracing his body to hit the floor. When he thought he was going to stop at the first floor, he ended up breaking through it and ending up on the floor of the Lincoln Bedroom, losing consciousness instantly.

Then, the helicopter exploded, taking out a good chunk of the house. April jumped once she heard that. Mike was up there. She turned around, seeing the fire in the floors above. She pushed herself up, her body sore from all the beating up it had taken. She didn't care about any of that though. It was just a minor inconvenience, fresh tears pushing their way to her eyes at the thought of what had become of Mike. "Mike!"

In the next half second, something knocked against her head, sending her down, face first into the stairs. She took deep breaths as the pain spread before the back of her shirt was forced up and her arms pinned behind her back. The man who had her, moved to the radio on his shoulder as April found herself woozy from the hit she suffered. "I have the girl. Making my way to the bunker now."

 _ **stormrunner74: Thanks, love!**_

 _ **Daniela: Bueno por lo que estoy haciendo esta repuesta en una aplicacion traductor por lo que el lenguaje pude ser un poco mal, pero muchas gracias y me alegro que te guste Abril. Espero que continue leyendo la historia y al igual que este capitulo**_

 _ **Mascota: Thanks! They are living in rough times. Mike will definitely try to save them both and April can kind of handle herself now so he won't be as worried about her. Thanks so much, I'm so close!**_

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: She may have gone slightly more bad ass in this chapter. The therapy is much needed.**_

 _ **Kagome309: Thanks so much! I don't feel like I'm good at writing action scenes so thank you for leaving me a comment on them.**_

 _ **Igor Blonsky: Thanks! The dirty talk was probably my favorite thing to write in the last chapter. And therapy is a given now.**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: I know how life is! It's totally fine! Thank you so much for complimenting my action scenes because I feel like my action writing isn't very good. All your comments brought a smile to my face so thank you. And yes, I will be continuing into London Has Fallen, but I'm not sure when that story will be posted as I have others that need some love, but I will definitely let you guys know when it's up on this story!**_

 _ **April has been taken! Also, I found out a few days ago that I have the most reviews in all of the Olympus Has Fallen stories which is super cool. We are so close to 100 reviews, I can almost taste it. You guys are awesome for that! Seriously, I don't think I would be able to do this without you. I hope you guys like this chapter and remember to review! Only one away!**_


	21. The Bunker

_**Okay, so I never do one of these at the beginning, but this is a special case. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISFITCARTER! This is an amazing reader/reviewer whose birthday is actually tomorrow, but I'm going to be at work tomorrow so it's going up today. Everyone wish a happy birthday!**_

* * *

 _ **2:27am**_

April was forced through the bunker as the doors opened, alerting everyone. Especially the President. "April." He whispered, completely terrified and beginning to struggle on his restraints to get to her.

April looked around the room, knowing there was a lot more terrorists than them and there were a lot of bodies on the ground. She looked to the man who was holding her, noticing he was looking to the man with glasses at the computer. This must be Kang.

Hate flooded her body, taking in everything. Her father was tied up. O'Neil was dead on the ground. So were other staff members. Her blood was boiling and all the sympathy and compassion she felt earlier completely melted away. She stomped on the man's foot who held her and then elbowed him in the gut. That didn't stop him from covering his mouth with her hand and pulling her back.

That's when she knew she had to get drastic. She had gone harsh with the cigarette, but she was about to go animalistic. She opened her mouth, taking one of his fingers in between her teeth and biting as hard as she could. She could feel blood trickle into her mouth, but she wasn't going to stop. She was too pissed for that. She bit until she could feel his finger separate from the joint. With the finger in her mouth, she spat it in the man's face as he continued to cry from agony and fall back.

That's when Kang came up, tired of her behavior, finding himself slapping her across the face as hard as humanly possible. April fell to the ground as Ben screamed from anger at him touching her. April's face was stinging. She had never been hit that hard before. It was like a bus had crashed into her face. Granted, she had bit one of his men's fingers off and then spit it in his face, but wow, did she really deserve that.

She was forced up, finding herself still stumbling from that slap. "Michael told me you made it out."

"Yeah, and you said you were a South Korean. A friend." She spat out. "Looks like we've all told a few lies today."

Kang laughed a little at her spunk before looking back over at the President. "Benjamin," he spoke, impressed with her. "She has your mouth." He turned back to her, slapping her again.

"If you touch her one more time, I swear, I will kill you!"

April's head went back from the slap and she spent that moment her father was talking to let the rage boil before she came back and punched Kang when he was looking at her father. He looked back to her angry and then moved his jaw from the hit, finding a small amount of blood coming out of his lip. "You _are_ Mike Banning's girlfriend."

He turned to the first man he could find, calling him over, telling him to hold onto her as he went over to Charlie Rodriguez. The Vice President. "Wait!" April yelled, struggling to get out of the man's grip. This one was smarter than the last one, though. He was a safe distance from her so she wouldn't be able to do anything drastic to him. "What are you doing?!"

He moved Charlie to the computer chair right in front of the camera that would show a live feed to the Pentagon. April turned to look at her father, both of them sharing a fearful look about what this mad man was about to do. "Speaker Trumbull," Kang reported to the live feed. "That was a very foolish undertaking." There was a pause before Kang pulled his gun out and shot him in the head, everyone watching and everyone jumping at the sound.

Kang turned around, motioning for the man who had April to come forward. He shoved her down in the seat, Jacobs placing a hand over her mouth from shock. She couldn't believe April had gotten down there with that mad man. She had blood on her face and clothes. What everyone in that room didn't know was that it wasn't April's. "And now, I have your First Daughter."

April just looked into the camera, angry. Angry at them for not getting her out of this already. Angry at Kang for everything he had done to her so far. Angry at Mike for forcing her to stay, getting her into this mess. Angry at what Kang was going to make them do.

He got even closer to the camera, blocking their view of April, April finding herself giving a hateful stare to his back. "Her and the President are next. You now have one hour to recall the Seventh Fleet and your troops. Once you do so, I want a helicopter on the North Lawn fueled and ready. Sixty minutes."

He ended the transmission, April still giving a hateful stare to his back. "Sociopathic pig."

Kang turned around to look at her, Ben struggling to get a good view of his daughter to make sure he wouldn't hurt her. Kang leaned down, getting in her face, but April never broke her glare no matter how scared she was of this guy. Once he got at eye level with her, he gave her a wide smile. "That would be your boyfriend."

That's when April lost it. She punched Kang in the face again, but he wasn't going to have it this time. He picked her up by the hair, April yelping the whole time he forced her stand before throwing her down to the ground, April sliding a little bit at the force. "Tie her up!"

The men tied her up next to her father, April glaring at Kang the whole time. "My boyfriend is gonna _kill_ you."

Kang then smiled as he got down to her level once the men had finished tying her up, April not breaking her glare. "It'll be hard for him to do that from the grave." That's when April took a moment to blink. She almost forgot. Kang thought he was dead.

* * *

 _ **4:02am**_

Mike's eyes slowly fluttered open, the pain coming back to him like a bad memory. He groaned as he sat up, moving to lean against the bed frame for support. "Fuck." He muttered, thinking about everything that had happened. He didn't even know where April was.

He moved to the satellite phone in his pocket, dialing the number of the Pentagon again. Taking deep breaths before they connected. "Mike?" Trumbull was the first to speak.

Mike had to gather his strength to say, "Yeah." in the raspy voice his injuries would allow.

"We've been trying to reach you, son." Trumbull continued. "Are you okay?"

"Mr. Speaker, sir," Mike spoke, still trying to catch his breath and the spreading pain. "If we ever get out of this shit storm, you can hold me for insubordination, but your team needs some serious fucking help."

"This is General Clegg, Army Chief of Staff, I am ordering you to stand down." Trumbull looked over at him, irritated. He caused these men to lose their lives a few hours ago for nothing.

Mike's hand turned into a fist, knowing the same thing Trumbull did. "Remove your only eyes and ears from the ground, that's fucking brilliant."

"We need to pull you out of there before we lose another hostage." He explained quickly, getting closer to the phone. "I am giving you a direct order."

"Newsflash asshole, I don't work for you." That's when Mike began to think about April again. "And where the fuck is my girlfriend?"

"General Clegg," Trumbull began, deciding he was going to wait to answer Mike's question. That was something that needed a softer approach. "I'm the Commander-in-Chief, if I didn't absolutely need you, I would relieve you right now."

"I will not let this asshole – " Clegg began, but Trumbull took the challenge, standing up.

"General, I don't want to hear another word out of you unless I ask you a question!"

The whole room got deathly quiet, everyone looking between the two, wondering what was going to happen next. "Sir." General Clegg simply spoke, scared to get into another argument with him.

Trumbull turned around to the phone, ready to give him correct orders this time. "Mr. Banning," Mike didn't respond as he found a bullet in his side. "Mr. Banning, are you there?"

"Yes, sir." He spoke, not wanting everyone on the other end to know he was hurt. "What's the plan?"

Trumbull took a sigh, hating to say this, but it had to be done. "We're recalling the Seventh Fleet, pulling back our troops from the DMZ, and giving them a helicopter."

"Sir," Mike stressed. "You cannot do that. You cannot give this guy what he wants."

"Mike," Trumbull spoke in a calm voice, knowing what he was going to say next would make him rethink it all. "Kang has April." Mike's jaw suddenly clenched as his hand became into a tight fist. "And we don't know what he's going to do to her, but we can only imagine he's going to use her to get the President's Cerberus code by torturing her."

Mike leaned his head against the footboard of the bed, taking deep breaths, finding himself swallowing the lump that was resting in his throat at the thought of what they were going to do to April. He took a deep breath, collecting himself before turning back to the phone. "Sir, I've dealt with these types of men before. Give me some time. Let me flush him out."

"We are talking about the safety of the President of the United States and your girlfriend, Mike!"

"We're talking about a hell of a lot more than that, sir." The whole room in the Pentagon got quiet as Trumbull let his head fall in thought. "With all due respect, you're acting President now. And I'm the best hope you've got."

Trumbull took a minute to think it over before taking a sigh and sitting down. "Okay, Mike, you've got thirty minutes." Mike smiled slightly before nodding and shutting off the transmission.

* * *

Megan walked through the hospital, a yawn taking over as she made it to the next patient's room. Before she was all the way in the room, Rachel, her charge nurse stopped her. "You know, Megan," Megan looked up at her, shocked, not quite sure where she came from since she was lacking sleep. "You've done your part tonight, you should go home and get some rest."

Megan looked around. The hospital had calmed down a lot, but there was still a lot of people who needed attention. "You need as many able bodied people as you can get."

Rachel sighed, looking her up and down, worried about her. "If you think you can handle it." Megan nodded instantaneously, making Rachel smile before patting her on the arm. "You're gonna be a great nurse someday."

Megan smiled as Rachel moved past her before going to her patient. Laura was teaching her how to put the medication in the IV bag when Rachel knocked on the door, grabbing their attention. "Hey, Megan, there's a call for you on the landline." Megan's eyes got wide, only thinking of one person who know about that line. "The emergency line." April.

With shaking hands, Megan handed over the medicine to Laura before hurrying out to answer the phone. "April?" She asked excitedly.

"Close."

Megan's eyebrows furrowed at that Scottish accent. "Mike, what the hell? How did you know about this line?"

"April told me about it once or twice." Megan rolled her eyes. Of course she did. "I really need your help right now."

"Mike," Megan spoke as she shut her eyes. "Please tell me you're not in the White House."

"I'm in the White House."

Megan sighed again as she slowly opened her eyes. "Why can't we all just have a normal friendship?"

"Megan," Mike grunted as he moved to lean against a wall. "I'm shot and I need you to walk me through fixing this."

"Oh, Mike." Megan's voice was filled with worry as she tilted her head back. She let a few worried breaths happen before calming herself down, thinking about how she would do this if she was there. "Find a first aid kit, there should be a needle and thread in there, if not, there should be a flare gun."

"Yeah," He commented as he moved to the first aid kit near the bed, already knowing the idea she had about the flare gun. "I'm not doing the second one."

"You know I don't have to do this at all, right?" Mike scoffed as he opened up the kit, looking for the needle and thread. Megan looked around, moving the phone closer to her. "Where is April?"

Mike stopped searching for a moment, knowing she had a right to know. April was her best friend. "She's in the bunker, being held hostage by some bastard."

Megan felt fire running through her veins, thinking about what all April could be going through right now. "You're gonna kill him, right?"

"After you talk me through these stitches."

Megan talked him through the whole process until he was completely patched up, Megan waiting a little bit as he put a bandage on his wound before speaking again. "Mike," She spoke it almost as a plea, getting Mike's attention back immediately. "Get our girl back."

"You know I will."

"She loves you." Megan spoke while shutting her eyes, knowing that if anything happened, April would want him to know that. "She really does. So, don't just get her back safe, get yourself back safe too…. For her and for me."

Mike smiled just a little bit, knowing that through all of this, Megan had become his best friend too. "I will."

"Bye." Megan said slowly.

"Bye." When the line went dead, Mike looked around a little, suddenly feeling alone again.

* * *

Down in the bunker, April was tied up next to her father, looking over to him with a slight smile. "How did that meeting go?"

Ben smiled at her while shaking his head. "It was shit."

April's smile suddenly went away, thinking about everything that happened earlier. "Dad, I'm sorry I went so dark earlier I – "

"Well, I thought you were bad ass earlier."

April looked up at him, shocked. She thought he was going to be scared to look her in the eye, but it was the exact opposite. "Really?"

"Yeah," Ben spoke with a shrug before bumping into her shoulder. "Just like that tattoo on your shoulder."

April's eyes got wide. "You _know_ about that?"

"Of course I do." Ben spoke obviously. "I'm your father, I know everything about you." April blinked a few times, that taking her by complete surprise, making Ben smile. "April, I actually wanted to apologize to you."

She looked up at her father with a confused face. "For what?"

"For a lot." He looked down. "Mostly for getting us into this mess."

"Hey," April spoke, getting his attention back. "This isn't your fault. It's fucked up people doing fucked up things."

He gave her a slight smile. "April," She waited to hear what she had to say, Ben terrified for how she was going to react to this. "I'm also sorry I interfered in your relationship with Mike."

April nodded as Ben opened his mouth again, about to say more. "I know what you asked Mike to do, Dad, and it's okay, I get it."

"You _know_?"

April got a sudden smile on her face. "I'm your daughter, I know everything about you."

Ben wanted to give her a tight hug in that moment and plant a kiss on her cheek, April wanting to do the same. She settled on resting her head against his shoulder as he kissed the top of her head.

Almost immediately after their moment, a feed from the surveillance room came into the PEOC. "What's the matter, Kang?" April immediately picked her head off of her father's shoulder, just slightly turning her head to the side so she could see half of Mike's face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

April got a big smile on her face, not being able to contain her excitement. "Mike."

"I guess you don't know who you can trust, huh?" April looked back straight forward, not being able to take the smile off of her face. "It's over. No more televised executions. No chopper. No more negotiating with you and the United People's Front of Who Gives a Fuck."

Kang leaned forward, becoming angry that Mike was still alive. "I will send the President and his daughter out one piece at a time."

Mike leaned back in his seat, trying not to seem bothered by that image. "It won't matter." April half turned back to him again, slightly offended at what he had to say. "Because whatever you think you've accomplished you won't be alive to see it."

Kang looked to the woman on the computer, trying to keep his cool composure. "Shut him down."

She went to the computer, about to do the work when Mike decided to speak again. "Ah, you're not shutting me down, Kang. I'm here to stay." He nodded to him. "Bring my girlfriend over, will ya?" Kang looked over to the closest guard, nodding for him to bring over April. The men grabbed her harshly before throwing April down in the computer chair in front of the screen, Kang making sure to put his hands on the back of the chair in case she tried anything.

Mike gave her a worried once over. Her face had been bruised which made him want to kill Kang even more than he did before. "You okay?"

April nodded quickly before smiling a little. "I'd be better if we were able to go out tonight like we were supposed to."

Mike smiled as well, knowing she was trying to calm him down for a moment and get his mind off the topic. "I have a question about that."

She nodded, leaning in her chair a bit, Kang confused at how easy they could act like nothing was happening. "Shoot."

"Was it really a date?"

April thought for a moment. She had the exact same question, but deep down, she was pretty sure they both knew what this was. "Yeah."

Mike smiled just a little bit, but his entire face lit up, Kang shocked he was seeing Mike's soft side. "Sorry, I got tied up at work."

April laughed at how simple their conversation had gotten. "Yeah, well I got tied up with the South Koreans coming in too."

"Raincheck?"

April thought for a moment before leaning in just a little. "My favorite breakfast spot. The café we went this morning. Just you and me."

Mike gulped a little, finding it hard to think about these plans that actually might not happen. "What time?"

"Eight sharp, don't you dare be late."

Mike looked at Kang who was still behind April, all of it making him nervous. "Don't worry, after I deal with these fucking pricks, I'm headed straight there."

"I underestimated you." Kang spoke before tilting his head to the side. "It will not happen again."

"There is no again." Mike spoke, getting serious again. "You're gonna die down there alone, cut off from the rest of the world. My advice, save the last bullet for yourself." Mike stood up, not even looking at the screen anymore, just staring straight at the camera. "Because if you don't, I'm gonna stick my knife through your brain." Mike then got a wild smirk on his face. "And don't worry, I'm gonna leak the photos of your body to the press because I know you like that kinda shit." April stifled a laugh, finding herself never being more proud of Mike. "Later, baby." And with that, he terminated the connection, looking down, just hoping April would be able to make it out of this.

April leaned back in her seat while crossing her arms, a proud smile still on her face. "I told you," Her eyes went up to Kang as she sang it. "My boyfriend is gonna kill you."

The woman then turned to Kang with a panicked face. "He's locked out our video access."

"Clock's ticking." April spoke in a slow voice, immediately laughing after saying that before Kang grabbed her by the hair again.

He looked April right in the eye as he dragged her, April getting in slight punches in the abdomen. "Let's get something straight," he pushed her down next to her father, Ben getting angry all over again as men tied April up again. "You're dying down here. Your boyfriend is dying out there. There is nothing you can do about it and there's nothing worth fighting for."

April shook her head as a small smile played at her lips. "You know what you pricks don't get?" Kang turned his head to the side, waiting for more. "You can kill us, but it's not gonna stop there. There's not just one of us, there's millions of us and retaliation is going to happen. You get that, right?" There was a twinkle of fear in Kang's eyes, April smiling as she leaned back, getting comfortable again. "And you said you were gonna stop underestimating my boyfriend. He's putting a knife in your brain so watch your back."

She winked at him letting Kang smile just a tad at that. In all honesty, he felt like he was losing his whole plan. It was slowly dwindling and there was nothing he could do about it. He was losing control and he hated that feeling.

He stood up from April, looking to his men. "Secure the entrance! Leaving now!" He then turned to the ones tied up. He wasn't ready to kill April just yet. He wanted to make her suffer more. In all honesty, he wanted to kill Mike in front of her. He had to do something to make her squirm for now. He looked to Ruth, knowing how guilty April and Ben would both feel if their Secretary of State was killed. "Her!"

The men moved to her as she kicked at them, she put up a good fight, but it wasn't good enough as they began to drag her away. Both Ben and April were screaming at them to let her go, knowing she didn't deserve any of this, Kang just smiling at the two as he walked out with the men dragging Ruth out following.

 _ **CoolCat720: Thank you for being my 100th review and describing how we were all feeling lol**_

 _ **stormrunner74: Thanks! Me either. The finale of the movie should be the next chapter!**_

 _ **Mascota: Thanks! I couldn't have gotten there with all of you guys!**_

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Yes! I love writing badass April!**_

 _ **Igor Blonsky: Not a great idea, but a good move on their relationship!**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: First off, happy birthday! When I saw your review you became my main motivation for writing this week because I was like damn it would be cool if she got a chapter for her birthday. Thanks so much for your wonderful comments. They mean the world to me! I hope you have a great day tomorrow!**_

 _ **Kagome309: I've always had a soft spot for Dylan McDermott, but he most definitely had to go**_

 _ **THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE 100 REVIEWS! You guys are fantastic and I can't believe we've gotten this far! So, after this chapter there will be one more chapter of the movie and then an additional chapter that will serve as an epilogue. I hope you all enjoy these last few chapters and whenever I post the London Has Fallen story, I will post a chapter in this story just saying that the story is up and what it's called (spoiler alert: I don't even know what it's going to be called). Enjoy and remember to review!**_


	22. The Final Battle

As they dragged Ruth out of the bunker and into the now destroyed White House, she hollered the whole way there. No way she was going down without a fight. "Fucking idiot." She cursed as she was pulled up by Kang's man to only be thrown down again. A man came to help her up as she gave him one of the nastiest faces she had ever given. "Your leader is out of his mind." She whispered as she was thrown into the insanity once known as the White House lobby.

"Go." Kang commanded. She was confused by this sudden freedom, but she knew it wasn't much. Kang did have a gun in his hand. "Walk." She turned forward, looking at the vast empty space of the battle zone that it inhabited earlier today. "Move!" Kang's voice boomed through the house, alarming her, but making her walk.

In the Pentagon, they were watching the news feed, suddenly seeing Ruth walking into the line of sight. "McMillan." Lynne whispered in confusion, wondering what they wanted with her. Everyone waited in anticipation to see what was going to happen, the camera not being able to see Kang focusing his gun on her. Kang couldn't see Mike either, focusing his gun on his men.

Shots rang out, alerting everyone, Ruth running, meeting a team who escorted her off the lawn as Mike continued to shoot the men. Kang scattered, but a few men stayed behind, one actually thinking he could sneak up on Mike. Mike grabbed the barrel of his gun before shooting him in the head and taking his gun.

Mike advanced into the lobby, not finding any more people around, trying to figure out how he was going to get to the bunker from there. "Mike?" He heard Trumbull from the other line.

"Hey." Mike answered, fixing the piece in his ear. "He got away. He's back in the bunker."

A pause went over the room before Trumbull spoke again. "You gave it a good shot, Mike. You saved McMillan." Mike sighed, knowing that was a good thing, but that wasn't really the girl he was trying to save.

* * *

 _ **4:25am**_

Trumbull sat at the head of the table, taking deep breaths as the thought on how late it was truly set in. He looked to the clock hanging on the wall, taking a deep sigh, knowing what that time would mean for them and Kang. "The hour's up." He almost whispered. They hadn't figured out any other plan meaning the President and his daughter were going to be taken. "Send the helicopter, let's recall the seventh fleet." He took another deep sigh, hating that he was actually uttering these words. "Pull the troops out of the DMZ."

The message was immediately sent, Lynne hanging her head at that. "We just lost South Korea."

* * *

In the bunker, the woman who was controlling the computer turned to Kang with a wide smile on her face. "They're recalling the fleet."

"Of course they are." Kang told her with a smile.

April looked around as everyone moved, getting everything ready. She was becoming worried. She wanted to know what exactly they were going to do with that chopper. Exactly what they were going to do to her. A man came up to her and her father as more men moved to release the ones who were still tied up. The man moved forward with a black bag, April moving her head in every which way in hopes not to get it on her head. With the lack of her hands, he succeeded with the bag, cut her restraints and pulled her up.

Everyone else got dressed in the black clothing from head to toe so there would be nothing distinguishing one from the other. "Dad!" April called, not really sure where she was right now, but she knew she was sitting down.

"I'm right here, baby." He called, her head immediately turning to the left where she heard the voice from.

They were able to hear the door to the bunker open, confusing April greatly as the bag came off of her head and Kang was still down there along with a few other men. The doors closed, April's eyebrows furrowing as her father's mask came off too. "What are you doing?" She turned to look at Kang who had a playful smile tugging at his lips. "Why get a chopper if you're not gonna use it?"

Kang's smile got just a little wider at her confused face. "They're going to use it for our advantage."

April turned back to the door, letting what he said sink in before realizing what he was talking about. Those people were going to die. He was going to kill them so he could get away with her and her father. "No!" She yelled, trying to get up, but Kang pulled her right back down. She wasn't going to try to fight with him on this one. It was a waste of energy. They were already gone and there was nothing she would be able to do about it.

* * *

"Mike," Trumbull called as Mike continued to walk around the White House. "We have to get Kang, April and the President out in the open and take our best shot."

Mike didn't want to put April in the middle of a battle between him and Kang, but this seemed like the only thing that would be able to take this asshole down. "Copy that, sir."

Mike began to hurry to where he would be able to see the lawn where the helicopter rested as they began their walk to it. Snipers rested in buildings next over, hoping to be able to distinguish who Kang was in the group. As they walked, though, they noticed there was covers on their feet and heads. Their entire bodies were covered, there was no way they could distinguish Ben from Kang.

Once they all piled inside the chopper, the pilots took their place and began to lift it off the ground. It rose just above the White House when the entire helicopter exploded. Everyone around gasped and ducked as personnel tried to figure out what the hell happened.

Mike heard the explosion, his gut falling to his feet. They were like lead as he picked them up to walk to the nearest window, gasping once he saw the sight. Once he saw the flames, he had to hold onto the wall near him to steady himself. April was supposed to be on there. And if there was anything left of her, it was just burning on the lawn of her home. "Mike." Trumbull spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

Mike sucked in a breath as tears collected in his eyes. "What the hell happened?" He knew they would be able to hear the tears in his voice, but right now, he didn't care.

"I'm sorry to report," Trumbull began, hating that he had to tell him this. That he had to tell anyone this. "But the President and April were both on that helicopter."

Mike had to look up, fighting the tears from streaming down his face. Everything they had worked for paid off today and just like that, it had all been taken from him. Her smile. Her compassion. He would never feel her touch again or be able to listen to her talk about absolutely nothing and everything at the same time. The only thing that would make this better would be killing Kang. "And Kang?"

Trumbull could hear the darkness in his voice, wishing he would be able to give him some good news, but with a day like this, it was impossible. "Kang killed himself and all the other hostages."

Mike rubbed his face as he talked, but something resonated in him as he spoke. Mike began to shake his head, hope pushing through his whole body. "Wait." He whispered. "This doesn't make sense."

Trumbull thought Mike would have been way more torn up about that, but there was obviously something else on his mind. "What doesn't make sense?"

"Kang would not go out like that, sir." Mike spoke without a pause. "That's not who he is." Mike let his thoughts run for a moment. He would feel it if April really died. And he just didn't feel it. "I think he's still in the bunker and he has April and the President and he's gonna try to slip away."

Trumbull moved closer to the phone, getting even more serious. "If Kang is still on the premises with the president, you cannot let him leave."

Mike looked to his knife, thinking about April, thinking about all she had been through today. He then thought about how he was gonna shove that knife into Kang's brain and not stop until he was cold. "He won't."

* * *

Men pulled Ben and April up as Kang began to set up Cerberus to detonate. "I read your bible, Mr. President."

"Oh fuck off." April complained with an eye roll. She was getting real tired of Kang and she just wished Mike would bust through the door already and kill him. She didn't care if it was a knife in the brain or not.

"It says," Kang spoke loudly, trying to let April know she wasn't getting to him. "'The wages of sin is death.'"

"You better keep that in mind." Ben growled.

In that moment, Kang hit a button and the screen in the room blasted "Cerberus" big and bright. Ben and April looked to each other with panicked faces before looking back to Kang. "What are you doing?" April almost whispered, fear spreading through her whole body.

"Cerberus has been activated." The voice from the computer announced.

"We haven't launched any missiles yet." Ben was beyond distressed as he spoke. His country was falling apart at the seams because of Kang.

"I don't need to launch them." Kang had a sick smile on his face as he spoke. "The explosive force within each hardened silo will detonate the missiles." April let out a terrified breath as Ben just looked to April, scared for her life. "Tens of millions of Americans will perish. Your country will be a cold, dark, nuclear wasteland. Now too, America will know suffering and famine." Ben felt his hands ball into fists and his breathing turned angry. He was going to not only kill his children, but also his country.

* * *

"Sir?" Ray Monroe called to Trumbull, catching almost everyone's attention. "Cerberus has been activated." If Monroe didn't catch their attention before, their attention was caught now.

"What?" Clegg spoke in fear, standing up from his seat.

"NORAD confirms." Monroe spoke quietly. He really didn't want to confirm it, but the bombs flashed across the screen in all of their silos.

"How did it come to this?" Lynne demanded as she stood up from her seat in fear for what was to come. "We lost Korea and now our nukes?"

"They couldn't have broken the code." Trumbull whispered.

"That would be impossible." Monroe confirmed. "They'd be on the bunker computer for days to break three codes."

Lynne shook her head, her eyes shutting at everything that was going to happen in the next few hours. "He only needed to break one code."

Clegg's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, their plan not making sense to him. "But we haven't launched any missiles."

They all thought on that for a moment before Trumbull's eyes widened, realizing Kang's plan. "They're gonna detonate them in their silos."

Silence continued to pass over them, scared for what was really going to happen. "How many?"

Monroe looked to the screen as all the locations light up. "All of them."

Trumbull felt like the country was slipping out of his hands. It literally was. "He's just opened the gates of hell."

* * *

The timer began counting down from five minutes, both of the Asher's beginning to internally freak out. "Time to go, Mr. President." Kang announced, the man punching the crap out of him, leaving him falling in front of April.

"Dad!" She screamed, distressed at seeing him writhing on the ground.

The man then picked him up by his suit jacket as April was still on her knees, screaming. Another man, came behind her, picking her up by her jean jacket as she continued squirming in his grasp. "Fuck you!" She screamed as she was thrown next to her father.

"You think you're gonna get away with this?" Ben asked, looking Kang dead in the eye.

"The world thinks we're all dead." Kang spoke, his composure not breaking for even a second. "And with you as insurance…" he trailed off as he blew a hole in the bunker, knocking out the lights before pushing them through it.

They hurried into the hallway, Kang turning to the man holding onto April. "Kill her." He commanded.

"NO!" Ben screamed, trying to push out of the grip to get to his daughter.

That chaos was the perfect time for Mike to come in through the elevators, April instantly seeing him and ducking out of the way so he could shoot the man who had a grip of her. Ben then turned around, elbowing the man who was holding onto him as Mike continued to shoot the men around them.

April hurried to one of the stray guns, hearing one of the men running behind her, making sure to drop to the ground before shooting him to get the perfect angle. Ben pushed Kang into a wall, holding him there as Mike and April continued to fight off everyone that came for them. Ben and Kang struggled with a gun before Kang pushed it to his stomach and squeezed the trigger.

April turned around from one of the men she had just killed to see her father gasping from pain. "DAD!"

Ben staggered back as Mike ran for Kang and April hurried to her father as he slid down the wall to sit. April's nursing instincts kicking in, moving for his belt. "Okay," she spoke, trying to keep both her and her father calm. "I'm going to make a tourniquet to stop the blood." She spoke, inspecting the wound before doing so. "It went straight through so the only thing we need to worry about right now is blood loss."

She tightened the belt around his waist as he leaned for her ear, whispering. "What?" She asked, not able to hear him and leaning in to hear better.

"Cerberus." He spoke again.

April looked over to the computer and then over to Mike who was currently punching Kang in the face. She knew in that moment; she was the country's only hope. She sprung up, ready to do the job she had to do. "Mike!" He turned his ear so he could listen as he continued to punch Kang. "Ear piece!"

He pulled it out of his ear, tossing it, April catching it perfectly before hurrying back into the bunker. Kang tried to run for her, but Mike pushed him into a wall, knowing there was no way in hell that man was getting April. Not again.

April immediately shoved the ear piece in her ear when she got to the computer, suddenly becoming overwhelmed with everything sitting in front of her. "Lynne?" She asked, not really knowing who to address.

"April?" She asked, completely dumbfounded with her presence. She thought she was dead.

Kang was getting the upper hand in the fight, kneeing him in the gut while pushing him back into the other wall and pulling out two knives.

"I'm here. So is the President and Mike," She turned around, watching him knocking one knife out of Kang's hand before April turned back to the screen. "He's busy killing Kang." April looked around at everything not having an idea on where to start. "How do I switch this fucking thing off?"

"Hang on." Clegg told her, April bouncing at the fact that she had to wait. "Find a control panel marked 'counterman'."

April looked around for a moment before finding it, pulling the keyboard close to her. "Got it!"

A man moved to Monroe with a brief case, Monroe pulling out the kit with the codes in it and breaking it as Clegg leaned even closer to the phone. "Flip a blue-white switched marked, 'initiate recall'."

April looked around, finding herself shaking as she pulled the switch. "Okay, what's the abort command?!"

"November," Monroe commanded, April repeating after him to make sure she was getting it right. "India, Lima."

"Okay." April whispered, vigorously typing the letters.

"Five, Oscar, Hotel, Backslash." The fighting behind her really wasn't calming her nerves. Neither was thinking about how the whole country depended on her right now. "Niner, Victor, Kilo, Hashtag,"

April looked around for a moment, not actually knowing where the hashtag was on a computer. "Where the fuck is it?!" She screamed out.

"Shift three!" Lynne advised.

"Holy fuck." April whispered as she did as Lynne said. This was way too much pressure.

Everything had gotten very quiet behind her so she turned around in fear. Kang was holding Mike's neck, squeezing tight, taking his breath. She could hear them continue to talk, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Mike. Fear spread through her whole body, and she knew, she had to do something. "Oh, come on, Mike!" She screamed.

And with that, Mike snapped Kang's arm, causing April to gasp from how much pride rushed over her. Then Mike pushed him down, holding his head in between his knees. There was no way Kang was getting out of that, but April had to watch. She had to see Kang dead. Mike leaned for the knife lying on the floor, grabbing it and doing as he always said. He stuck a knife through Kang's brain.

April couldn't fight this smile on her face as she turned back to the computer before saying, "I'm sorry, what was that last part?"

"Echo," Monroe was obviously slightly irritated with her losing her attention on the code, but he was going to let her get this in so she could save all of America. "Sierra, Foxtrot."

April took a moment, waiting for someone to say something else, but no one talked. "Is that it?"

"That's it." Lynne confirmed.

April went ahead and pressed enter, everyone waiting for an intense moment before the computer confirmed it. "Cerberus has been deactivated."

April let out a relaxing breath, feeling all the stress suddenly melt away as she put a hand over her heart. She got a huge smile on her face at the sound of everyone at the Pentagon celebrating before taking the piece out of her ear and turning around to see Mike and her father staring at her. They both looked proud and for the first time all day, April felt completely at peace.

* * *

 _ **6:14am**_

April had her arm around her father's waist, keeping him steady, meeting Mike's hand in the middle of his back. Ben's arms draped around their shoulders, finding it a lot harder to walk with a hole now in his stomach.

Once they made it close to the entrance, they decided to stop, seeing the sun was rising. They knew the second they walked out there they were going to be bombarded with paparazzi. There would be no amount of privacy, there would be doctors crowding them, TV reporters and just people in general trying to find out what the hell is going on. It was going to be a tough go about, but honestly, they all had each other back. Truly. How hard could it really be with each of them by their side? "Are you ready, Mr. President?"

Ben looked to each of them before nodding, the three making it out onto the front steps of the White House. April couldn't help but look at the bullets that stained the building, finding it hard to believe that her house was attacked and she survived. It brought a bit of a smile to her face. She survived. Mike survived. Her dad survived. It was like a miracle. Someone was watching over them for this and she believed with her whole heart it was Margret and April Asher.

Mike met April's gaze, smiling at her, thinking the same thing she was thinking. Damn, they were lucky. Mike then turned to look at Ben, knowing that if he didn't have his job back after this, Ben definitely needed to get checked out for a concussion. "I'm sorry about the house, sir."

Ben turned to him with a bright smile. There was no way he was letting Mike go again. "It's okay. I believe it's insured."

The three of them laughed until a team came up to them, different men taking them each. April kept looking behind her to make sure Mike was still there. It was like she was afraid he was going to leave her. She was afraid to be without him again. Even if she was out of that hell hole, she still felt that level of alertness. Something she thought would probably never go away. Something that would definitely increase her hours of therapy.

"Dad!" They all turned to see Conner hurrying to them out of an ambulance. "April!"

"Oh my god." April whispered as Ben got down on his knees to give Conner a hug and April joining them, Ben pulling her in before she was even fully positioned. She almost forgot how worried she was about Conner with everything going on in there.

Mike watched as he was being led to an ambulance away from them. He had a smile on his face. He loved that he could still watch from afar, make sure she was safe, marvel in her beauty. They would never be together every second of every day. That was impossible. And through that, he just loved to watch her be.

April suddenly propped her head out of the hug, looking around for Mike. They weren't able to have a chance to truly reconnect. She could see his back as they helped him out of his bullet proof vest. She had to go to him. She hoped her father would understand. She broke out of the hug completely, the both of them confused for a moment before realizing who she was looking at, instantly getting a smile on their faces. After all this time, those two deserved to be together.

"Mike!" She called out. He turned around even if the paramedics began to inspect him.

Her feet took off the ground before she even knew where they were going, and once she got close enough, she launched herself into his arms. He caught her, her arms holding tight around his neck as he buried his head into her shoulder. April let a few tears slip out, happy that she was out of this mess and that he had turned up okay despite all of the scenarios she had created in her head.

When he pulled out of their embrace, all they saw was each other. Mike leaned forward, April doing the same as his hand came to her chin, stroking it with his fingers. April's lips parted, getting ready to take his tongue in her mouth when they were stopped. "Oh my god!" They both turned to their left, April immediately attacked in a hug by Megan.

"Wow," April commented, her eyes still on Mike as she felt the life being choked out of her. "You must have been really worried about me."

"Hell yeah!" She spoke, breaking away from her friend. "I was worried out of my mind, April!"

She sounded like a disappointed mother April had to gasp to. "Well, I'm sorry the White House got attacked and I was taken hostage!"

"Girls," Mike spoke, looking around to see some cameras trying to snap photos. "Maybe now isn't the best time."

Megan threw her arms around Mike's neck too, hardly able to believe he was alive as well. "Neither of you," Megan spoke as she pulled from Mike to look at the both of them. "Scare me like that again."

"Yes, mom." April joked as Megan rolled her eyes. April's eyes then traveled back to Mike, knowing that Megan had interrupted something very important. "Can we actually get a moment?"

She looked back and forth at the two before rolling her eyes slightly. "Yeah, I was just the worried best friend, but you two go ahead, enjoy each other. Make out. Not like I just got you back too."

April rolled her eyes as Megan began walking away before turning back to Mike. "She'll be fine."

"She needs help." April corrected.

Mike turned back to her with a hearty laugh as April leaned into him again, Mike taking the same position he had before their interruption. April gave him a wide smile as she looked into those grey-blue eyes. The same eyes she saw the second she walked into her new home. The same eyes she glanced into before she kissed. The same eyes she wanted to look into for the rest of her life. "You found me."

Mike moved his face forward so their noses were touching before whispering his response. "I told you I would."

Then, he leaned all the way forward, placing a slow magical kiss on her lips. As expected, cameras flashed around them, but they just didn't care. They could go on with their speculations and wild stories, but when it came down to it, they were just two people in love. And nothing would ever be able to change that. Not any story or fake source that was out there.

Mike's hands moved to her back, lifting her in the air as a smile spread across April's face during the kiss. She cupped his face in both of her hands as her feet dangled in the air, never wanting to come down from this. Mike slowly let her to the ground, April arching her back as he leaned forward some more, his hand going to the back of her head to support it.

"Miss. Asher." That made them break apart instantly, both looking to the man who sheepishly stood near them in a uniform. "We were going to start heading to the hospital if you wanted to ride with your father."

"Oh," April spoke, looking her father's ambulance and then Mike's. Did they really need _two_ ambulances. "Thank you." She nodded as her voice was completely out of breath. "I'll be right there."

He nodded awkwardly before walking off. April then turned on her heels to look back at Mike. She put a finger on his chest, hating that she had to leave him when she just got him back no matter how short of a time. "Remember eight AM sharp."

Mike gave her a smile, thinking the exact same thing she was thinking. "I told you I'd be there." She gave him another big smile before giving him a peck on the lips and hurrying off to her father's ambulance. "Hey, Showers!" She immediately turned around as she was only a few feet away from the truck, Mike smiling at how cute she looked when responding to that name. "I love you."

She smiled at him before walking backwards to the ambulance, not wanting to take her eyes off of Mike. "I looooove you." She threw her head back a tad as she recited the O's before climbing into the ambulance as Mike stayed there for a moment laughing before getting into his own ambulance and hurrying off the hospital.

 _ **Igor Blonsky: Oh, I know! Ben would be rolling his eyes from a mile away at their conversation. Haha, they wanted to get that date out as soon as possible after everything they had been through so that's why a breakfast date. And yes, I love the knife through the brain as well.**_

 _ **CoolCat0720: Okay, true. I would definitely be trying to make a date with Mike Banning whether i was being held captive or not.**_

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Yay! I'm glad you liked it!**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: You're so very welcome! I'm glad you loved April going just a tad crazy. Thank you so much for your constant reviews!**_

 _ **I'm coming at you guys from a new laptop! I'm so excited, my last one was so bad, but this one is perfect. I've named her Deena. Okay, we have one more chapter left which makes me kind of sad. I hope you guys liked the ending of the movie and I hope you enjoy the last chapter of the story next! Thank you guys so much for continuing to read and review throughout this whole story. Means everything to me! See ya next time!**_


	23. Back

_**7:59am**_

Washington DC was like a ghost town. Everyone was in their houses and not a lot of businesses were open. April just hoped her favorite café would be open. When she walked to the door, she noticed most of the lights were off and the "closed" sign was up. She sighed, pulling out her cell phone, about to call Mike for a change of plans when the door opened up.

April was still way on edge from everything that happened, jumping and stepping back before anyone could hurt her. When she looked up, though, she noticed it was Mike. "What the hell?" April gasped, pushing him just a little bit as he laughed. A smile came on April's face at his laugh. She loved hearing it especially after all they just went through. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Sorry." He apologized with a quick shrug.

April looked into the building, noticing no one was in there. "This place is closed today. What are you doing?"

"Well," Mike spoke, pulling the keys out of his front pocket. "I worked my magic."

April's eyes grew wide, hardly able to believe that Mike actually had the keys to the place. "What?" April asked as she walked in, trying to hide her shock while Mike closed the door after her. "Did you kill someone for it?"

He gave her an irritated stare that she had to laugh to. April didn't understand how they were so calm after everything they went through. It made no sense to her, but she wasn't going to argue with it. She loved the relaxation she felt after the night of stress she just experienced. "I called the owner, asked him if he was going to be open and when he said he wasn't, I asked for the keys."

April furrowed her eyebrows together as she sat down at a booth where Mike had already set a pot of coffee down, pouring herself a mug. "What did you say to him to get him to give you the keys?"

Mike got a smile on his face, not being able to wait to tell her what he said. "President's orders."

April let out a loud laugh as she shook her head at him. "You are so going to hell."

Mike shrugged, knowing that was fair. "Could be."

April rolled her eyes at him as he moved to sit down next to her, April not being able to fight her smile once he put his arm around her. "This is a breakfast date," April commented, making it obvious she was looking around for the food. "And I'm starving."

Mike looked over to the back, picking up his head slightly so his voice would be able to carry that far. "Hey, Mon, how much longer on those pancakes?"

April's eyes widened once she heard that, looking over to Monica coming out the back of the kitchen, her black hair tied up in a high ponytail and flour on her apron. "Give it like five minutes."

"Perfect."

She disappeared back into the kitchen, April turning to Mike with an amused face while shaking her head. "You, Mike Banning, never cease to amaze me."

She leaned even further into his embrace, taking a deep relaxing breath before taking another sip of coffee. Mike placed a kiss to her temple, April just had to close her eyes to. Mike made her feel so safe and relaxed. She would never be able to get this anywhere else. "How's your dad?"

She looked up at Mike, taking in all of his beauty as he did the same. "Fine. They want to keep him for the day, but they're probably going to release him at night. He just needed a few stitches."

"Good." His voice was so gruff from how tired and sleepy he was. April just snuggled further into him, hoping her presence alone would be able to make him stay awake. "I was worried." He placed his chin on top of her head when she looked away from him, knowing they both had to stay awake. At least for breakfast.

"Here we are." They both jumped at Monica's voice, straightening up, but Mike not taking his arm off of April's shoulders. "Blueberry pancakes for April and strawberry for Mike with a side of bacon and eggs for both."

April smiled at how gourmet Monica made it all look. She never did anything half assed. No matter if the country fell apart today. "Thank you, Mon." She spoke as she shook her head. "You didn't have to."

"Oh, yes I did." She corrected. "You two get back together after all the crap you both made me go through, I deserve making your first official date food."

April rolled her eyes at the woman as Mike shook his head. "You can leave now if you want. Spend the day with your family."

"I am." She spoke as she took off her gloves. "You two gonna be fine by yourselves?"

Mike and April both glanced to each other with a playful smile on both of their faces as April already had a piece of bacon in her mouth. Monica rolled her eyes, knowing that was a dumb question. They had both just survived a night in the White House with terrorists at every turn. They were more than fine by themselves. "Never mind. You two enjoy your _date_."

"Bye." They both spoke in unison as Monica walked out the front door, leaving just the two in the café. "You're welcome." Mike spoke with a nod as April began to scoff which turned into a laugh.

"And what am I welcome for?"

"I set all this up." Mike spoke, looking around at everything.

April began to laugh again. "You got the keys to a café."

"And I called the best chef I know." He spoke, talking through a mouthful of eggs.

"I could have done the same thing." She spoke unimpressed as Mike just gave her a fake irritated stare. He couldn't help but smile at her laugh, though. That was the one thing breaking him from keeping a stone cold face.

He shook his head at her, giving her a wider smile. "I love you, you know that?"

April leaned into him again, taking a big gulp of coffee before speaking again. "Know that I love you?"

"No way." Mike spoke sarcastically while shaking his head. "I didn't know this was a two-way street."

"You're such an ass." April whispered while taking a huge bite of her pancakes.

"Yeah, I know." April turned to look at him, furrowing her brows, knowing he was going somewhere else with this. He didn't just openly admit to being an ass like that. "Too bad you're stuck with me."

April shrugged. "It's got benefits."

"Like what?" Mike asked through a mouthful of pancake.

April looked up, pretending to think, but in all honesty, she could go on all day about why Mike was her favorite person in the whole world. "You have an amazing body." He nodded like it was obvious. "Your face isn't too bad on the eyes." She moved to his hair, ruffling it a little bit. "I actually like it this length."

"Better than Troy's shaggy hair, huh?"

"Oh," April laughed out. "A million times better." April continued to look at him, reasons on why she loved him just dying to pour out of her mouth. "You're a complete badass. Your heart is tainted, but it's still good. You would do anything for me." Mike looked down at her, knowing what she said was true. His heart was tainted, but she made him forget it wasn't. "And you have the biggest penis I have ever seen."

"You're damn right I do." April laughed into his shoulder, the two snuggling into each other again, enjoying the rest of their date.

* * *

When they got to Mike's apartment, their first thought wasn't to have sex until tomorrow, it was their aching bodies and how much they needed rest. Mike started up the shower, the two getting in, helping each other lather their hair and bodies, just enjoying the relaxing heat of the shower and each other's company.

When they got out, April stole one of Mike's T-shirts, jumping into bed the second it was on, Mike doing the same as her. April didn't realize she was going to feel so at home here. It was like the apartment was calling for her. Like this was her home too, she just didn't realize it yet.

The two took their time just lying there, staring into each other's eyes as they grew heavy. "What about tomorrow?" April asked. "It's going to be so crazy tomorrow. We're going to have renovate the entire White House and we have to go to the Treasury and let them know that you're quitting." April then shook her head, thinking about everything she had witnessed in these last few hours. "How could I ever go back in there?"

"Hey," Mike whispered, his voice even more gruff than it was in the café, feeling himself almost off to sleep. "Don't worry about all of that stuff right now. You need rest."

April shook her head as she looked at him. "The second I walk in there, I'm going to think about everything I did, the people I killed, and I don't think I can handle that."

Mike moved his hand forward, grabbing hers, looking dead into her eyes. "You'll have me. You'll always have me." Mike let out a sigh of tiredness as his eyes shut. "And I'll be there with you every step of the way."

April's eyes closed too, finding it impossible to stay awake anymore as she closed the space between the two. "You promise?"

Mike wrapped his arm around her waist as their chests pressed together, her head just under his. "I promise." Then in a quick moment, the two fell asleep like that.

* * *

Ben had been given a hotel suite along with Conner, April deciding to stay with Mike as they worked on renovating the White House. They had no idea how long they were going to be there, but they were all happy for a break. Currently, both Mike and April had been called into Ben's makeshift office in one of the rooms of the suite. They both had no idea what it was for and they were both trying to look everywhere, but in Ben's eyes.

"Will you two relax?" Ben complained at the look of them. "April, you look like you're gonna pop a blood vessel."

"I might." She spoke with a shrug, knowing that was a plausible reaction of this situation.

"April," Ben spoke while rubbing the bridge of his nose, finding her unnecessary fear exhausting. "What am I gonna do, ground you?"

April thought about it for a moment before shrugging. There really wasn't much Ben could do to her. Anything drastic was far from Ben's style of parenting. "I just wanted to talk to you two about what's going to be happening in the next few days."

Both Mike and April shared an uneasy glance before looking back to Ben. "What's going to be happening in the next few days?" Mike asked.

"Well," Ben spoke, standing up and leaning on the desk that stood in front of them. "Mike, you're coming back to work for me." April gave him a bit of a smile before looking back to her father. "And April," She was confused at the mention of her. "When you graduate college, look out for Lynne. She's already talking about making you Secret Service. Very enthusiastically I might add."

April nodded, suddenly seeing herself in that position. She never did before. She just couldn't see herself in that job field. But it was hard to see yourself out of it once you've done it. "And officials have decided that you two need to be awarded something for your work in the White House."

April and Mike looked to each other again in confusion, not expecting that at all. "What kind of award?" Mike finally asked.

Ben got a smile on his face as he looked back and forth at the two. If anyone deserved this award, it was them.

* * *

"Oh my gosh." April complained while shaking her hands. "I'm nervous. Are you nervous?"

Mike looked her up and down as she bounced. "Apparently not as nervous as you."

"This is a huge deal, how are you not freaking out?!"

Mike shrugged, knowing she was right. He should have been insanely nervous. He should be bouncing around like April or maybe be even worse. For some odd reason, he wasn't. With April, he just wasn't. "I don't know." He spoke honestly while turning to look at her. "I have you I guess."

April gave him a tight smile as the blood rushed to her cheeks. She was just happy that everything was just falling into place so simply. April leaned in as Mike stepped closer to her, the two about to share a kiss when the stage manager popped her head in. "Two minutes, guys."

Mike and April both took a sigh, not realizing that the two of them finally getting together was going to lead to so many interrupted kisses. "Thank you, Jan." April spoke quickly leaving her to hurry back to the stage.

April turned to look at Mike, taking a deep sigh before leaning forward and whispering, "Do you think two minutes is long enough for us to steal a kiss?"

"It better be." Mike whispered before leaning in and kissing her quick before anyone else could interrupt. When they pulled away, Mike had his hands around her waist as April involuntarily put hers around his neck. That's when Mike decided to ask something that had been spinning through his mind for a while. "Hey, what about when the White House is done with its renovations, you get all your stuff and you move in with me permanently?"

April laughed a little, shaking her head at that. "Or I finish getting all of my stuff out and move in with you now?"

Mike pushed his face to hers with a deep smile settling in as April shut her eyes, thinking about how amazing it was that after all this time, they could do this. They could be out in the open in the middle of the day. They could go on real dates. Not just private rooms or hanging out at his house. Finally, they didn't have to hide and that was the best thing April Asher could ask for.

"I like your idea better." He spoke with a nod before leaning in to give her a kiss.

In the middle of the kiss, the stage manager came out, practically pulling them apart. "Come on you two, it's time."

April shrugged at Mike before walking up the steps of the stage, waiting for her father to say both their names, April reaching out her hand for Mike to grab as he stood behind her. She looked back at him, giving him a cheesy smile he just had to smile back at. He really was lucky to have her.

"So," Ben spoke, causing Mike and April to turn back to the stage. "It is my duty and my honor to present April Asher and Mike Banning."

Applause started as the two walked up the steps and onto the stage. The applause died down, both April and Mike giving each other a nervous look. Okay, now Mike felt it. He was now extremely nervous. Ben gave a quick smile to the two before looking back to the audience. "These two are being honored today for their extraordinary sacrifice, not just to keep me safe, but all of America." Ben looked down to his note cards quickly, but most of the reason for him looking down was because he was thinking about it all again.

"On July 5th, 2013, the unthinkable happened. Our house was taken. A few other officials and myself were taken hostage and these two went above and beyond the call of duty to take back our house." April looked down at that. She really felt like she didn't deserve this. If anyone did, it was Mike. She didn't do much. "Mike single handedly took on every terrorist that stepped foot in that house where he saved both Conner and April Asher along with Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan and myself."

Ben then turned to April, noticing her standing the way she was, and in that moment he knew what she was feeling. "And the next awardee is one very special to me." April looked up at him, noticing he wasn't even addressing the audience. He gave her one wink before turning back to the crowd, April getting a large smile on her face. "Without her, none of us would be standing here today." He got a serious look on his face, thinking about what would have happened if April wasn't able to do what she did when she did it. "The terrorists had gained access to our nuclear codes and they were going to blow them in their silos, leaving our country in ruins." Ben turned back to look at his daughter, finding himself extremely proud. "April was able to break the code, saving every single one of us. And I can tell you all now, I have never been more proud to be her father."

April bit her lip, trying to keep herself from getting emotional as Mike stared at her in the same wonderment her father did. Ben turned back to the audience with a small smile on his face. "These two are the reasons this award was created. For people that are willing to exhibit extraordinary bravery, selflessness and courage in the name of our country. So, this is our chance to pay our gratitude to these two heroes." Ben turned to look at the man holding the medals next to him before nodding. "General Clegg."

Ben grabbed one medal and went to put it on Mike first while General Clegg announced. "The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Michael Banning and April Asher." The second the medal was clipped onto Mike's suit jacket, he felt this kind of heavy responsibility while thinking of all the other secret service agents who truly deserved this.

Ben then moved to the second medal, moving towards April. "Michael Banning and April Asher distinguished themselves by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risks of their lives above and beyond the call of duty." As her father walked toward her, she caught sight of Conner watching her in awe. And for a split second where Ben had covered her face from the cameras, she stuck her tongue out at him while crossing her eyes, making Conner laugh.

Ben smiled at her while General Clegg continued on their story of bravery and Ben pinned the medal onto April's blazer. April felt the heaviness of the medal just as Mike did, her mind wandering back to the fact that she didn't really deserve this. That's when Ben leaned into her ear, whispering. "You saved all of America back there and I mean it when I say I have never been more proud of you." April gave him a bright smile, feeling herself becoming emotional again. "Your mother would have been _so_ proud of you." That time, April had to take a deep breath as her first tear fell, Mike simply putting a hand on her back as her father turned away, Mike rubbing her back in small circles, calming her almost instantly.

"Michael Banning," General Clegg continued, not having that nasty tone he did in the Pentagon, but more of a grateful one. "Is the first Secret Service agent to receive the Medal of Honor while April Asher is the second and youngest female to do so." They both looked to each other, giving each other an impressed stare. "Extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon themselves and the United States."

They were then both escorted off the stage by General Clegg and to the side with Lynne and Conner, knowing Ben still had to give his speech about the state their country was in after the attack. "In regard to the attack on the White House," he took a pause, looking around at all the people in there and noticing some of his best Secret Service agents were gone. "We lost good friends. Family. All good people."

Mike and April turned to look at each other, Mike making sure to hold April's hand as they thought about Roma, O'Neil and even Forbes. "Heroes, every one of them. Our hearts and prayers go out to their families and they will be remembered nor will we forget those who serve out of the spotlight." April looked into the audience to see Megan watching with captivation, wishing Megan could have been up there for all the work she had done. "To whom we owe our highest gratitude."

April then turned back to look at her brother, placing her arm around him, sandwiched in-between two of her favorite boys. "Our foe did not come only to destroy our things or our people." Ben turned to look over at the three, intently watching his speech, getting a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "They came to desecrate our way of life, to foul our beliefs, trample our freedom, and in this, not only did they fail,"

"They got their asses handed to them." April whispered in Mike's ear which he had to break his stone cold stare to turn and smile at her.

"They granted us the greatest gift." April turned back to her father, becoming serious again. She would hide it, but what had happened to her in the White House really affected her and she was finding one of the ways to get around it was joking about it. In all honesty though, she had never been filled with more pride for her country in her life. "A chance at our rebirth. We will rise renewed, stronger and united."

"This is our time, our chance to get back to the best of who we are." April turned to look at Mike, him looking to her out of the corner of his eye with a smile before looking back to Ben. It really was their time. "To lead by example with the dignity, integrity and honor that built this country and which we'll build it once again." He gave the crowd a quick once over before uttering the last part of his speech which he felt obliged to say in this time of crisis. "May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America."

Ben began to step down from the stage, going to the door which Mike opened for him. Ben then stopped in front of Mike, looking to his daughter first and then back to Mike. And in that moment, he had no idea why he thought she was unsafe with Mike to begin with. It was the exact opposite. He offered Mike a small smile before putting his hand out and shaking it. April and Mike both smiled, knowing what this was. This was the handshake a father gives to his daughter's boyfriend as a sign of respect. Acceptance.

Then Ben turned around to Conner, put his hand on his shoulders and guided him through the door. April stopped at the door to look at Mike with a big smile on her face before leaning in to whisper, "Don't sleep with the President's daughter on the first day."

"No promises." He whispered out the corner of his mouth. April squeezed his arm before following her father and brother, Mike sticking back for a little bit, just remembering how all of this felt. He was back. Back with April. Back in the White House. Back to the old Mike. And it felt damn good to be back.

 _ **fearthereaper15: I am! Not sure when it's going to be up, though.**_

 _ **Mrs. HappyAnarchy: I'm gonna tell you I thought about making a twist, but I was like you know what I'm not that mean lol**_

 _ **Igor Blonsky: All of those things in that order! Thanks so much for all of your reviews!**_

 _ **stormrunner74: Thank you, love!**_

 _ **CoolCat720: Oh my gosh same! I was like I need this chapter to be as lovey dovey as possible because it was so stressful just writing that stuff.**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: Okay, so I read this review on my first day back at college and it made my day. This has to be the nicest review I've ever gotten. You don't know how much that meant to me that you love the story that much. Thank you a million times over. I hope I can do the sequel justice in the next one!**_

 _ **NGArmyWife: Haha I know I'm a bit sneaky and I honestly thought about something happening to April, but I was like this girl has been through so much, I'm not gonna do that to her. And yes, I hate Clegg and that has to be one of the best parts in the movie. Thank you so much for your kind words and I hope you like the last chapter, sweetheart!**_

 _ **Guest: Thanks so much! Can't wait for you to read more!**_

 _ **So this is it! This is the last chapter and it was so fun to write this story for all of you guys! I really hope you've all enjoyed it and I can't wait for you guys to enjoy Mike and April back in action in the London Has Fallen sequel whenever it comes up. I'm really gonna miss this story while I'm on break from it since it was so fun to write, but can't wait to come back! Love, JanaeSpecter14 XOXO**_


	24. Sequel Announcement

Hey, guys! Just wanted to let you know that the sequel is up! It's called Everything Changed. Can't wait for you all to read it!


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